Serbia Film Commission representatives are currently at the 2014 Cannes Film Market. 

Cannes – May 19th 2014. Serbia Film Comission representatives are currently at the 2014 Cannes Film Market.

During their stay in Cannes, the SFC members have meetings with producers from Europe and the United States, and important meetings with partners from new markets, especially India and the Far East are also organized.

Preparations for the Danube conference are carried out simultaneously with the presence at the most important European film market. On this occasion, Ana Ilic, Executive director of the Serbian Film Commission and Milica Božanić, Operations Manager have meetings with colleagues and producers from the Danube countries. The SFC representatives traditionally participate at the meetings of the European Film Commision Network.

The SFC members are also in Cannes Film Market – DigitalKraft, Viktorija Film, Red Production, Art&Popcorn, Gargantua Films. Representatives of Viktorija Film and Gargantua Films promote their films in Cannes – Nymph and Little Buddho.

The production company More In Group is also being promoted in Cannes. In cooperation with Viktorija Film, last year they have finished shooting the film The Tenor in which prominent roles achieved Natasha Tapušković, Svetozar Cvetković and Dragan Mićanović. The film will premiere at the festival in Shanghai, and producers expect particularly great success in Japan.

The four-member delegation of film professionals from Serbia is currently visiting India to help increase exchange in cinema and television between India and Serbia

With the help of Indian Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia Film Commission organized for its members a visit to India 24-30 April 2014. The main goal of the visit is for Serbian representatives to learn about Indian film industry today and get acquainted with productions and current state of affairs in order to increase the exchange between the two countries. During their stay in New Delhi and Mumbai, the SFC members will meet prominent film, documentary and commercials producers, representatives of Indian Ministry of information and broadcasting and the National film development corporation.
The Serbian delegation comprises Milos Djukelic of Red Production, president of the board of the SFC, Ana Krivokuca from Top Cut, Bogdan Marjanović from Dream Dust and Milica Božanić of the Serbia Film Commission.
Serbia Film Commission and the Indian Embassy in Belgrade plan to organize similar visit of Indian film professionals to Serbia later this year.

March 27 – 29, 2014, Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles – Join us for our special events at the Serbia Film Commission booth #706

Do you have a project cooking that could be filmed in Serbia? Or the Balkan region? Serbia Film Commission would be the best starting point for you and we will be happy to tell you in person why Serbia offers the ultimate value for money these days in Europe.

We have prepared for you special events at the Serbia Film Commission booth:

• „Filming a Medievial Battle“ – Thursday, 27 March at 1:00 p.m.
• „Serbian Danube and its Starring Role in The Movies“ – Thursday, 27 March at 2.30 p.m.
• „Emerging Filming Market in Serbia – The Best Value For Money“ – Friday, 28 March at 1:00 p.m.
• „ABC of filming in Serbia“ – Saturday, 29 March at 1:00 p.m.

Visit our stand #706 or or we could meet with you somewhere else in L.A. in the week of the 24th of March! Let us know where and when it would work for you at info@filminserbia.com

WHY SERBIA?

FRESH & VIBRANT

Serbia is a fresh vibrant film destination in South East Europe with an outstanding production infrastructure juiced up with amazing talents and uniquely creative crews that can make any idea possible and looking fabulous on screen!

PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE

Serbia is well known for offering fully committed, reliable service companies that truly care about your project. They are your real partner, not just another service provider.

DIVERSITY OF LOCATIONS AND SEASONS

Serbia boasts an array of various film friendly locations from a unique mixture of architectural styles to the scenic nature and exquisite historical sites – fortresses, castles, villages and the magnificent Danube. Check it all out at www.filmlocationserbia.com

VAST VARIETY OF FACES

Serbia is in the middle of Europe, at the borders between the West and the East and Serbian people represent a unique mixture of cultures and looks. You can basically find actors, extras and stunts of a great number of ethnical looks.

ULTIMATE VALUE FOR MONEY

All of it comes on a very competitive budget allowing for major savings on any type of production.

BELGRADE – BEST CITY TO VISIT IN EUROPE IN 2014

…as announced by famous travel bloggers. Or the „Capital of Cool“ as Lonely Planet would put it. The city is safe, fun and exciting. No papparazi will bother you! And you will have great choice of restaurants, cafes, shops and nightclubs, all at walking distance.

BRAND NEW SOUND STAGES JUST 20 MIN FROM DOWNTOWN

Eight brand new studios are available, just 10 minutes from the international airport and 20 from downtown Belgrade. Check it out at www.pfistudios.com

HANDS ON SERBIA FILM COMMISSION

Serbia Film Commission will guide you through everything and find the best partners for your project! Let us know WHEN you are ready to come. We know HOW to cater to all your needs.

And if you need more convincing, please ask Ralph Fiennes, John Cusak, Gerard Butler, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Chastain, Chris Noth, Derek Jacobi, Anthony LaPaglia, Vanessa Redgrave who have all filmed in Serbia!

The two-day multimedia event aims to encourage the development of creative industries in Serbia

Conference on creative industries Serbia (KKIS) called Adventure in Mikser House strated today in Belgrade. It is a two-day multimedia event that aims to highlight importance of the creative industries in Serbia and enchance the exchange of knowledge and experience in order to establish the foundation for further development of creative industries in Serbia.
In the morning session guests from abroad talked about the importance of creative industries as a factor of growth of modern economies: Andy Eaglefrom the UK spoke about cultural space in Cardiff; Fionn Zarubica from Hollywood ( USA ) had a presentation “Art or entertainment?”, Hristina Mikic from the Group for creative economy spoke about development of potential of the creative industries in Serbia and Martin Kern, chief of Operations of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia presented oportunities of the Programme Creative Europe 2014-2020.
In the afternoon session Director of Serbia Film Commission Ana Ilic and her colleagues from other fields of creative economies in Serbia spoke about the achievements of creative industries in Serbia so far. First she presented the current situation in the field of film in Serbia and presented arguments in favor of the fact, based on a number of economic and other studies and analysis, that foreign productions are highly beneficial for the economy of Serbia. She then elaborated on the perspective of foreign producers, i.e. what kind of advantage and importance Serbia film industry has in the eyes of film professionals in the world. She also presented direct economic effect foreign film productions have on the Serbian economy. Since establishment of SFC in 2009, more than 50 million euros of foreign investments have been generated, employing over 1500 people and 300 vendors and suppliers. She also explaned multiplier effect of these projects: for every dollar invested in the film industry, another 2.5 dollars are generated in the economy of the country in which the filming is taking place.
At the same session, other experts presented the situation in their respective fields: Dušan Kovačević, founder and director of the EXIT festival and Ivan Lalic,executive director of Mikser festival talked about festivals and urban design; Nenad Radujević, director of Fashion Studio Click spoke on fashion, and Mirko Topalski, director Eipix Entertaiment had a presentation on “The Flourishing Industry of Video Games in Serbia”.
Tomorrow’s program includes two sessions: the first one from 10.00 to 11.30 is education and infrastructure as a basis for the development of creative industries. The speakers are Ana S. Trbović, dean of the Faculty of Economics, Finance and Administration, Veran Matic, a journalist and a representative of the Board of Directors B92, Misa Lukic, Chairman of the Board and co-owner of Publics Group Serbia and founder Leo Burnett , the most successful and most awarded serbian agency in the last decade, Nada Popovic Perisic, dean of the Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University , Vigor Majic, director of scientific research station „Petnica“ and Nemanja Petrovic, Deputy Mayor of Municipality Savski Venac
The second session from 12:00 to 13:15 will be dedicated to the needs of stakeholders in creative industries in Serbia that can lead to the growth of the creative sector. Participants of this part of the discussion are Ivan Blagojevic, director of Nišvil festival, Aja Jung, dancer and director of the Belgrade Dance Festival and Dejan Restak, founder and director of Vibe Network times.

Within the project „Preparing the Serbian Danube for a starring role in the movies“ funded by the European Union and the Austrian Development Agency Serbia Film Commission (SFC) visited 28 cities and municipalities along the Danube over the past four months. SFC estimated that in addition to the variety of shooting locations , these cities and municipalities have the administrative resources for the standardization of film permits and procedures, and could be eligible for the Film Friendly program.
After interviews with representatives of the public and private sectors in these cities and municipalities, the SFC Team invited all of them to the introductory workshop Film Friendly Serbia that was held on 30 January 2014 in Belgrade. The workshop was attended by representatives of local self-governments from Novi Sad , Negotin , Ruma , Vršac , Loznica, Bela Crkva, Golubac , Veliko Gradište, Boljevac , Bač , Požarevac , Kladovo , Sremski Karlovci , Pećinci , Stara Pazova and Pančevo.
Participants were firstly informed about the criteria for selection of cities and municipalities in the Danube region and then with the economic potential of the film industry, and the possible positive effects of foreign and domestic productions on the local economy. In the second part of the workshop, participants were presented with the basics of the Friendly Film program and the basic requirements for local governments in order to be able to “absorb” demands of film production – the establishment of working groups , establishing locations price lists, data entry in the location database and so on.
Based on the evaluation forms , participants liked the most “thorough approach to the subject“ „practical examples ” and “the possibility of active participation for all participants” Participants recommended to the SFC “to connect experienced and new municipalities” and the most of them evaluated the entire workshop as excellent.
In the further course of the project the SFC will continue working with all the cities and municipalities so that most of them indicate delegated person , department or office that will work with the film sector, providing information, receive requests , coordinate permits, and finally work to introduce procedures for locations filming permits.

2014

Serbian Danube offers plethora of film locations

Within the project “Preparing the Serbian Danube for a starring role in the movies” over the past four months, from September 2013, Serbia Film Commission (SFC) visited a number of cities and municipalities along the Danube region in order to assess their cultural, historical and natural resources for the film industry.

At the press conference which was held by the SFC on 30 January 2014 on the occasion of the end of initial assessment of Danube resourses for the film industry, the speakers were: Ana Ilic , executive director of the SFC , Sasha Mogić , Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Local Self Government, Milica Stefanovic , marketing director of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) and  Milos Milovanovic,  Deputy Director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia .

In her opening remarks, Ana Ilic thanked the media representatives, donors and partners, and emphasized the importance of  the support that the SFC had on this project by the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Self Government.

Sasha Mogić , Deputy Minister further stated that the Ministry was contacted by the SFC late last year, asking for support in the process of cooperation with local authorities and establishing responsibilities for location rentals and price lists. The Ministry has recognized the importance of this issue for the development of the local economy and the Minister Igor Mirovic promptly sent sent a letter to all mayors recommending cooperation in order to facilitate utilization of potentials along the Danube for the film industry. “Further steps are up to the cities and municipalities, to use trainings by and cooperation with the SFC in order to do what is necessary to place themselves at the map of film producers who will rent their locations.”

Ana Ilic is then introduced the participants to the first results of the assessment of resources in the Danube for the film industry: Of the 81 cities and municipalities in the region Serbian Danube region , on the basis of attractiveness, accessibility, and structure of local government, the SFC has identified 34 cities and municipalities that have the potential for the film industry. Of that, during the SFC previous activities 6 have been certified already as a film friendly: cities of Smederevo, Sombor, Pancevo and Pozarevac , and of municipalities of Savski venac and Vračar.  During the initial assessment on this project SFC has marked a new 28 cities and municipalities, in total 260 new locations:

In these new cities and municipalities, in addition to the variety of shooting locations, it is estimated that there are administrative resources for the standardization of film permits and procedures. SFC did interviews with representatives of the public and private sector there, and introduced them with the possible positive effects of the film industry in the development of the local economy, but also the requirements that must be met in order to beautiful and attractive locations could become functional and available to film industry.

All of the newly identified Danube sites will almost immediately get the opportunity for international promotion, since the Serbia Film Commission will exhibit at the AFCI Locations Show 2014 in Los Angeles in March this year. The SFC is member of the AFCI, the global association of film commissions, since 2009, SFC executive director Ana Ilic is the member of Board of Directors of the AFCI.

In the following period the SFC project team will continue to work with local governments to establish and strengthen the administrative support that will allow cities and municipalities to “absorb” demands of the film industry, and to adequately respond to them, and thus strengthen the local economy.

The project “Preparing the Serbian Danube for a starring role in the movies” is financed by the European Commission and the Austrian Development Agency, and will be implemented in cooperation with National Alliance for Local Economic Development – NALED, Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency – SIEPA, Cinema City and Town of Smederevo.

Vertigo Films and the team in Serbia had 30 filming days at four locations in Serbia: Bojcinska forest, Kalemegdan Fortress, Deliblato and Pancevo Reva.
Sword of Vengeance is an innovative artwork with a great commercial potential. It brought together an international team of authors, and engaged a number of local talents : prominent Serbian set designer Jelena Sopić, costume designer Stefan Savković , make up artist Marinela Spasenović and actor Aleksandar Radojicic which is known to local audiences from the film Montevideo.
International team consists of renowned British actors of the famous TV series , movies and theater: Ed Skrein (Game of Thrones) , Stanley Weber , Dave Lagen (Harry Potter) , Edward Akrout (The Borgias). Director Jim Weedon is known for his visual style, noted in his sequences in the movies Gladiator and Hannibal. His powerful and distinctive style brought him numerous awards, including the BBC Directors Award.
Executive producer in Serbia is Red Production, which has a long tradition of cooperation with foreign productions, and about 70 implemented projects annually. During the month of shooting, this project engaged about 90 people from local companies and 60 local extras and stuntmen, mainly from the Serbian Stunt Association. Red Production started this year in the same style of the medieval spectacle, with Ironclad -Battle of Blood.
Huberta Von Liel, producer from Vertigo Films told us that they were very satisfied with the work they have done in Serbia: “From July this year, when we did location scouting, until the very end of the filming, everything went smoothly as planned. Except for a few leading actors, the director, and the director of photography, all the others , about 150 of them are from Serbia, and they did their job at the highest professional level.”
Edward Akrout, one of the leading actors: “Marinela Spasenović did a scar on my face marvelously, even to me it seemed like a real one! She is just amazing. The entire team is great, I feel like at home, and I hope to come back here soon.” Much to our surprise, at the end of the interview, Ed did a flawless performance of local song, “Little Girl” – in Serbian.
This is just one of many foreign productions that – except for a few key people from abroad – hire the entire team of local professionals – a total of about 200 people at this one. The producers and the actors were delighted by proficiency of Serbian filming professionals, and confirmed that Serbia is one of the most desirable destinations for filming: it has great locations and experienced filmmakers with whom there is a history of successful cooperation, prices are appropriate, and one can freely say that Serbia is a film friendly country.

Representatives of the Serbian Film Commission led by the Executive Director Ms. Ana Ilic met on Thursday, 12 December 2013 with the Minister of Regional Development and Local Government, Mr. Igor Mirović. SFA has asked for the assistance from the Ministry in securing the cooperation at the local level. After conducting an assessment of all the potential cultural, historical, natural and economic resources in Serbia for the film industry for several years now, SFA concluded that the response of local self-governances is variable, which can lead to some opportunities for foreign investment could fail.

SFA also informed Minister Mirović about the project currently implemented with the European Commission and the Austrian Development Agency, which will focus on the analysis and evaluation of the potential of the Danube region for the film industry. Minister Mirović welcomed the efforts of the SFA and the NGO sector in general to be in every possible way involved in local and regional development and stated that the Ministry will send a letter to all cities and municipalities in order to support the project team SFA in determining the jurisdictions for renting locations and price lists.

The Minister suggested that the SFA activities in the Danube region should be shared with other Danube countries as well, which will be discussed accordingly.

Serbia Film Commission’s efforts in positioning Serbia on the international filming locations map has recently resulted in more excellent outcomes. First, in the beginning of November the SFC has joined EUFCN – the European Network of Film Commissions, a professional network of most active European film commissions which supports and promotes the European film industry and culture.
At the same time, SFC executive director Ana Ilic has been elected to the Board of Directors of the AFCI, the global association of film commissions.
In her two year term, Ana and SFC will be one of the three European film commissions represented at the 10 member AFCI Board together with Stockholm and Oredsund (Sweden and Denmark), and the first one ever to come from an Eastern European country. After a very successful attendance at this year’s Cineposium last month in South Korea, this is another acknowledgement that Serbia is competitive and attractive new destination promoted and represented by a credible, modern organization that is becoming a pivotal player in contributing to the global film industry and the rise of the profile of film commissions.
In her nomination Ana Ilic pointed out the importance of expanding the film commissions’ community and being sensitive to the industry needs in the changing economic trends.
“We are very honored to be nominated in the first place, and to be elected coming from a small country is a real privilege. This is also excellent proof of our success given that we are a very young film commission that has been operating for just over four years. Also, I think I can contribute to the Board with a new approach from the standpoint of the Eastern European region that is a growing production region but has never been represented in the decision making processes in the AFCI. I believe the region has become a strong partner for international clients and can also be a valuable partner in the film commission community. There are still many countries in the region that do not have film commissions or are just starting to form them and are potential new members of the AFCI and could use the valuable support from their colleagues from all over the world. We are glad if Serbia is pioneering this process and will be inspiring others to join.” – says Ana Ilic.
The Association of film Commissioners International (AFCI) is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1975 to serve the growing needs of film and television production. The AFCI was initially formed by a small group of film commissioners who wanted to share information and learn from one another’s experiences. Since then, the AFCI has expanded into a worldwide network of more than 300 commissions representing six continents. www.afci.org The complete list of Board members can be found here
EUFCN is a non-profit association which supports and promotes the European film industry and culture. Its main goals are to create a network of the most active European Film Commissions; to promote the exchange of information between members; to sustain the development of location searches and shooting opportunities; and to carry out professional and educational activities for members. www.eufcn.net