Serbian film producers go to California to get Hollywood to come to Serbia

The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) Locations Trade Show has grown steadily over the years to become the premiere global marketplace where Hollywood’s decision-makers and trendsetters all gather to explore possibilities for where to film everything from feature films to television commercials. More than 3,000 industry professionals and 240 exhibitors representing more than 30 countries attend this event in Santa Monica, Califiornia.

This year, for the first time, the Serbian film industry joined this ‘must attend industry event’, thanks to support provided by USAID and SIEPA. For Serbia, this was not just another trade show event. It was the world premiere of the “Film in Serbia” brand and the launch of a comprehensive campaign that promotes Serbia’s appeal as a service, talent and film location powerhouse in Eastern Europe. And Serbia pulled all of its resources together for a successful debut, bringing onboard two famous Serbian Americans to support the Serbian film industry. Former football (soccer) legend Dan Tana who offered the ultimate Hollywood insiders hangout, his “Dan Tana’s Hollywood Restaurant”, for a brunch that gathered TV and movie producers from the largest production houses and studios, including Universal, Fox, Mandate, the Film Department, Starz Media, and others. And, actress Catherine Oxenberg, a descendent of the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the popular soap opera Dynasty, and her husband, actor Caper Van Dien, hosted the event.

Serbia used this unique opportunity to promote its diverse and dramatic film locations, remarkable depth of creative talent, costume design skills, exceptionally creative and skilled visual effects designers and the fact that cost-wise it is significantly more competitive than any of its rivals. One of many guests at the brunch, Ram Bergman, producer of “Brothers Bloom”, used words such as ‘hospitability’, ‘professionalism’, and ‘fun’ to describe his experience of filming in Serbia, saying that he will be back. Matt Birch, the director of physical production of “Brothers Bloom”, added that it was much easier to work in Serbia as compared to other countries in the region, due to the deep talent pool and the fact that most Serbians speak English.

“What Serbia has to offer are mountains that can look like Scotland, deserts, rivers, bridges that can be set up either for a medieval drama or a modern action movie, all of which are in close proximity to each other. And location rates in Serbia are 35% cheaper than in London or the Czech Republic, and 20% cheaper than in Hungary or Romania” was the message echoed by Ana Ilic, USAID’s film industry advisor during the trade show. Vuk Marijanović, a producer from the Cyber Entertainment Studio noted that “the technical base in Serbia is in excellent condition, all of the equipment is brand new and there is no place with comparable quality in the region”. Milos Djukelic, a rising Serbian film director and owner of the Red Production company, asserted that ‘professionally, Serbian film industry representatives are competitive with anyone in the world.” Other participants included representatives of the production companies Work in Progress, Gargantua Films, the Dream Company, film lab Cinelabs Belgrade, the post-production company Cinebox and the studios for visual effects Crater and Digitalkraftof.

The first results of this trip can be seen by the fact that three scouting visits and location searches are being planned for the production of feature films and/or commercials this summer. At the same time, the resurgence of the Serbian film industry has been featured on the glossy pages of leading international trade publications. The LA Daily News, singled out Serbia from more than 35 countries in its article about the trade show. While the influential Hollywood insiders’ Screen Daily wrote that “Film in Serbia is booming for all the right reasons. As Europe’s new capital of cool, Belgrade is emerging as the hot new destination for international, feature, documentary and commercial film markets. It’s no wonder. Serbia offers low production costs, highly skilled creative talent, scenic locations and a solid industry infrastructure. And there’s more. Belgrade buzzes with an unparalleled energy these days. From the sublime to the extreme, the city’s frenetic nightlife, cool urban edge, bohemian vibe and safe streets are sure to please even the most discerning customer”.

Locations magazine, the official magazine of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), published annually, deemed Serbia so chic that it presented the country separately from the South East Europe section in its 2009 edition, dedicating a whole page to “Serbia taking action”.

In the past two years, Serbia has served as a location for international productions such as Endgame Entertainment's Brothers Bloom, RAI's Einstein by Liliana Cavani, Europa Corp's District 13- Ultimatum and Berlinale entry Human Zoo by Rie Rasmussen. Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus is scheduled to start shooting in Belgrade in spring 2010.