January 15, 2021

Entering into the sixth year of the cash rebate implementation Serbia continues to encourage international productions shooting in the country. The most significant change in the new Decree on support to film incentives is that it will be under the auspices of Ministry of Culture and Information as of 2021, though the process for applicants largely stays the same with Film Center Serbia as administering body.

Cash rebate remains open for feature, TV, animation and commercials both shooting on location or using post-production services in Serbia. For TV series to qualify the investor will have to provide minimum expenditure per episode of 150.000 EUR, instead of 100.000 EUR that were previously required.

Detailed fact list and new legal framework for 2021 is available on the INCENTIVES page in our website.

Serbian cash rebate programme has been welcoming international TV commercials and advertising projects with 20% incentive, which makes it an outstanding production opportunity among European destinations. The number of projects that benefited in the previous five years cumulated to 150, with 2020 alone awarding 1,6 million EUR through the incentive programme to 40 advertising projects. The largest number of clients and production companies benefiting from Serbian locations and film infrastructure came from Germany, but the list of notable brand names and campaigns included Lexus, Mersedes, L’Oreal and Addidas, to name a few.

Facilitating productions from Stink Films and Buscuit Film with notable creative names has been a special collaborative and creative treat for growing community of professionals accross all departments that more and more take over creative roles and work side by side in delivering ambitious artistic visions. The challenge of delivering expectations in the pandemic year has been met with succesful results. After release of iShares film directed by Isaiah Seret producers from Buscuit Films have all the praise for their Serbian counterparts.  

“Despite the intensity of these projects, we felt very much cared for by everyone in such genuine and sincere ways. The films will so much of what we wanted them to be and we all feel that coming to Serbia was the best decision we could have made.  And now that we’ve developed a relationship, we really do look forward to coming back again.”  – said Jeff McDougall, producer at Biscuit Films.

Read interview with Ivana Antić from Tuna+Icon on the experience of shooting iShares campaign with Biscuit Filmworks.

The budget allocated for cash rebate programme in 2021 remains the same as previous year, 700 million dinars (approx. 5.8M EUR) and it is open for applications. Incentives provide a 25% cash rebate on qualified Serbian spend for feature films, TV series, animation films, documentaries and visual effects, while TV commercials are eligible for 20% of the cost incurred in Serbia. The 30% cash rebate is available for feature films with budget spend in Serbia above 5.000.000 EUR.

November 19, 2020

Registrations for CGA Belgrade online event on December 1st are now open, so save the link to your Calendar and get yourself a comfortable spot for a virtual CGA experience. This year we will be joined by some amazing industry names during afternoon sessions that are set to start at 4PM CET.

We’ve been witnessing extensive changes amidst global pandemic this year that have made us rethink and reimagine our lives and work. 2020 has challenged us to slow down and respond to uncontrollable situations with great care in order to hopefully move forward and turn difficulties into opportunities.

As one of the results, virtual production has been the focus of industry attention with Unreal Engine blazing the trail of game-engine technology application in Film, Animation and TV. If you want to keep a close eye on all things virtual production, make sure you join in on our session Virtual production and Unreal Engine led by Mark Flanagan from Epic Games with an intent to examine the uses of game-engine technology in Film, Animation, TV and New media.

SPIN VFX has also joined the chat and we couldn’t be more delighted to welcome their Executive Producer Neishaw Ali, Visual Effects Supervisor Jeff Campbell and CG Supervisor Simon Milner for a round of CG insights.

Although 2020 has been weird enough, there’s still room for Weird animation with Nick denBoer. Nick will take you on an online tour through some of his commercial work in Maxon’s Cinema 4D including music videos for deadmau5, work for Old Spice, KFC, Conan O’Brien and other projects.

Divided into segments CGAcademy, CGArts, CGAlliance and CGAfterHours, we’ve prepared an afternoon programme that will meet your needs whether you’re looking to get more concrete knowledge, creative inspiration, better understanding of industry business or just plain fun with your peers. No matter your level of industry savvy. We’ve also prepared a present or two, since it’s important to take extra care of each other now more than ever.

With that in mind, we’re very grateful and appreciative of all the help and support we received from our long-term partners and sponsors Autodesk, 3lateral, Nordeus, Maxon, Foundry and Embassy of Canada in Belgrade. Without their help, we wouldn’t be able to create quality content you’re used to enjoying at CGA Belgrade.

The sessions are set to start at 4 PM CET and the full programme will be available in the coming days. We will send you the event link with all necessary info after you’ve registered.

CGA is one of the SFC staple projects founded in collaboration with Crater VFX Trainig Center and VFX Serbia.

Register for CGA Belgrade moving forward HERE.

October 16, 2020

The female-driven action story The Ledge started principal photography in special nature reserve Jelašnička gorge in Serbia beginning of October. Directed by Howard J Ford (Never Let Go) film stars an enticing young cast of actors including Brittany Ashworth (The Crucifixion, Hostile, Accident Man), Ben Lamb (Divergent, Now You See Me 2), Louis Boyer, Nathan Welsh, David Wayman and Anais Parello (Offensive, I-Art). Commenting from the set, director Howard Ford stated that every mountain is a challenge but with enormous help from Red Production and their amazing team in Serbia this team effort is going to be a winner!

Climbing thriller features never seen on screen locations around Suva planina in southern Serbia that are doubling for Dolomites, in combination with settings in and around Belgrade including some studio built décor. Niš City Government provided huge support on the set showing that film friendly concept is well working throughout the country. The Ledge is produced by Kate Hoffman and Fred Hedman of Evolution Pictures, company dedicated to genre movies, and Miloš Đukelić of Red Production Belgrade, prolific production service company able not just to provide services but also to develop project as a producer. Worldwide rights are being handled by GFM Film Sales.

Described as a female cliffhanger, Evolution Pictures managed, with the help of Red Production, to make COVID-proof arrangements in Serbia to allow shooting to commence. Cast & crew, among whom many are passionate climbers, are monitored daily to comply with Serbian regulations.  

“The Ledge is exactly the type of movie that Evolution was formed to make. A great piece of writing with a dynamic director capable of creating something unique and commercial, with an exciting young cast, all of whom are emerging talent. COVID was an enormous obstacle to overcome but with the help and support of Sheila Fraser Milne from Paterson James, Miloš Đukelić from Red Production and Phil Hunt of Headgear, we are now in production”, said Fred Hedman.

Producer Miloš Đukelić said: “The story of The Ledge is an interesting parallel with the effort it takes to make a movie of this scale in the middle of the pandemic!  When I met Fred and Howard I was impressed by not only their professional approach but by their real passion for this piece.  It was an easy decision to join the film as a producer.  It’s a roller coaster ride, full of adrenaline.  Red Production is very experienced in filming in Serbia and also working with producers in order to benefit from the Serbian incentives which are very advantageous.  We’re all living on the ledge these days and the only way is up!”

 August 24, 2020

Digitalkraft is looking forward to its new exciting challenge. The final preps for the new project a feature length animation “The Peasants”, that will mark first co-production of this kind with Polish Breakthru Films Studio. The Polish team is well known for its previous project “Loving Vincent”, awarded and praised in festivals, including nominations for Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe. Breakthru developed specific artistic technique and animation pipeline that will be once again applied in production of the upcoming film, involving Belgrade team in the opportunity to master innovative techniques and be part of an ambitious European animation work.

“In November 2019, producers of the “Loving Vincent”, Sean Bobbitt and Oscar winner Hugh Welchman, contacted us with the idea to work together on a new project called “The Peasants”. Screenplay is actually an adaptation of the novel written by Polish Nobel laureate Wladyslaw Reymont. The film, written and directed by Dorota Kobjela and Hugh Welchman, will be created using the same oil painting animation technique. I believe while working together, both studios will improve existing technique with an even more fluid and organic painting process and cause an evolution in oil painting animation, innovating animated film at the same time”, says Jelena Angelovski, producer from Digitalkraft.

The creative spark between Polish and Serbian team clicked even more after visiting the National Museum in Belgrade, where they selected works from the period of academic realism of notable Serbian painters Uroš Predić, “Landscape in Bavaria”, by Milan Popović and “Flower Seller” by Miloš Tenković to be incorporate in the film. Artists in Belgrade, Sopot and Kiev will revive part of the common Slavic cultural heritage making it visible through the project and giving Serbia the opportunity to position its artwork within the cinematic world.

That’s why a dedicated open call for 15 academic and non-academic painters, experts in art of reproductions, will become a part of this major project. The application deadline is extended to September 18 for which you can apply via LINK. The project is scheduled to be released in 2022, and besides painters, the team will include 20 VFX artists and 2 supervisors Biserka Petrović and Vladimir Vinkić who previously worked on “Loving Vincent”. Belgrade team will be led by Ana Pakljanac from the Digitalkraft studio.

The shooting has already started in Poland and will last 36 days, while the total production budget is enclosed to be 4.5 million EUR.