FNE country focus Croatia: 2011 

ZAGREB: The year 2011 was a watershed for the Croatian film industry with the adoption of new legislation that introduced financial incentives for film production in the form of a 20% cash rebate for production costs incurred in Croatia for feature films, documentaries, animation and TV drama.  

The results came soon: the second season of HBO's popular fantasy series Game of Thrones was filmed in Croatia in September and October 2011 in Dubrovnik and marks the return of big international productions to the country.  The Croatian service provider and partner was Embassy Films.  Peter Greenaway's Goltzius and the Pelican Company (the second installment of his film series The Dutch Masters) also shot recently shot in Croatia's capital, Zagreb.
 
The film incentive scheme is an amendment to the Film Act and it marks the first step towards realisation of strategic goals outlined in the four-year National Strategic Programme for the Audiovisual Industry, devised by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (www.havc.hr) and approved by the Ministry of Culture in October 2010. Among other amendments to the existing 2007 Film Act were those aimed at streamlining and improving effecienty of payment procedures for other non-state contributors to film industry funding. 

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FNE at DISCOP Budapest 2011: Croatia

ZAGREB: Croatian television is still struggling to find its way. The recent departure of several top executives and uneven results for attempts at new programming - as well as the declining audiences for some previously popular genres - has channels in crisis mode. Deep debts and editors replaced every few months at public broadcaster Croatian Radio-Television make negotiations over coproductions difficult, while commercial broadcasters are faulted for lowering standards.

Croatia has three national TV stations: publicly-owned Croatian Radio-Television, known as HRT, and commercial stations NOVA TV (part of Central European Medial Enterprises, CME, www.cnet-net.com) and RTL Croatia, both launched in Croatia since 2000. The result of the new competition over the past decade was the commercialization of production at HRT, and a populist standard of series at the new private stations.
 
Croatian Radio Television, founded in 1956 under the name Televizija Zagreb, was famous across the region for its excellent scripted fiction series (Malo misto, Velo misto, Gruntovcani...), which are still being rebroadcast in prime time. The most poplar series were those with dialogues in dialect. HRT still produces new a few scripted fiction series, but more often buys independent productions for broadcast. However, the quality of new original programming is generally seen as lower than those produced during socialist times. HRT premiered the first original Croatian soap Villa Maria in 2004, and NOVA TV and RTL followed with similar programmes.

However, the popularity of Croatian soap operas, after years of high ratings, has recently declined, while reality formats including quiz shows and entertainment programmes are growing more popular.

Stations are still looking for scripted series, although they are more interested in format or reality programmes. The biggest coproduction currently running in Croatia is the Big Brother reality show, a coproduction with Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro. This Big Brother studio is in Belgrade, but involves participants from all these ex-Yugoslav countries. 
 
Croatia and Serbia had a success with a previous coproduction, an adaptation of the Columbian series Ugly Betty (Yo soy Betty, la Fea), known in Croatia and Serbia as Ne daj se, Nina.
 
Existing content is rarely updated - one such atempt resulted in failure: an upscale quiz called Kviskoteka, which lost the battle for audiences when it went up against new, more populist reality programmes.
 
There are numerous national fiction productions, stations acquire licences for reality format programmes. In recent years the most popular were Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Weakest Link, along with reality entertainment shows Dancing with the Stars, Singing with the Stars, Next Top Model, and Croatia Search for a Star.  

Croatia is beginning to see some success is selling its own local format programmes abroad. A Croation talk show, HRT's Piramida produced by Dubravko Merlic and Zeljka Ogresta, was licenced to Slovenija, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Canada, with adapted localized versions of the show produced in all these countries. Other Croatian programmes were not so successful. However, this was an independent production, not a tv-station owned one.

FNE 2010 Year in Review: Progress in Croatia

Croatia was rich with major developments in 2010: the support to minority co-productions was multiplied, 10 more film festival were supported with public funds, a new art cinema in Zagreb was opened, script and project development funding was granted for the first time, the Croatian audiovisual centre got a new manager, a new law on the Croatian Radio Television was approved, and two Croatian actresses attracted international attention.  

In February, the Croatian audiovisual centre (www.havc.hr) decided to increase the support to minority coproduction to 10% of the total film budget, in order for the films to be official coproductions according to the European convention of film coproductions. In the past the contributions to minority coproduction were in range of 20,000 to 60,000 euros, while in 2010 three minority feature film co-productions - The Morning After (Jutro poslije), by the Danish director Brigitte Staermose, the Serbian film Enemy (Neprijatelj) directed by Dejan Zecevic and Parade (Parada) by Serbian director Srdan Dragojevic received a total of 370,000 euros.

In April, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre increased financial support to Croatian film festivals by from 600,000 euros to 737,222 euros. In 2009 the Centre supported 31 festivals, while in 2010 40 festivals receive support. However, the support to two public festivals promoting national film and sharing the goals of the Centre was cut. 

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 Grants: Croatian Development Fund

Our newly introduced Development Fund provides script and project development funding for single projects with aim to broaden quality, range and ambition of Croatian film projects and talent being developed. More specifically, our aim is to raise the quality of screenplays and projects produced in or from Croatia through targeted development initiatives. Over time, we aim to build creatively focused relationships, with a breadth of talent, from "first timers" to experienced practitioners.

Our Script Development scheme provides seed funding for writers or writers and directors, enabling them to write the first draft feature-length fiction, documentary and animation screenplays from a treatment stage or  to write subsequent drafts of an existing screenplay, whether an original screenplay or an adaptation of the existing work.  While our Project Development scheme, which is a dedicated industry programme, provides funding for producers to enable them to commission screenplays and undertake all practical work necessary to prepare a feature-length fiction, documentary and animation projects for production.

The script development funding is for projects at a very early stage of development such as treatment or first draft stage or for options over published works. The purpose of this funding is to shape development projects in order to make them more attractive in the market place. We accept projects at all stages of development from treatment stage onwards.

The award for funding is a fixed sum of HRK 35,000.

The project must be capable of being developed as a feature length theatrical film, because currently, we do not provide development funding for short films, or programmes, series and serials intended primarily for television and should be intended for production in Croatian language unless there are relevant circumstances to the contrary. Submissions are encouraged from projects intended to reach the broadest range of cinema audiences both in and outside Croatia.

The project development programme is a dedicated industry funding programme for producers, production companies and filmmakers enabling them to commission screenplays and undertake all practical work necessary to prepare a feature-length fiction, documentary or animation film project for production. 

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre will accept applications for project development funding of film projects at all stages of development from 1st draft onwards. Awards for funding will mostly range between HRK 75,000 to HRK 175,000 and will be a contribution towards the total development costs of commissioning screenplays and associated practical work necessary to develop a feature film.

The first public call for proposals for development funding issued by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre was open on the 5th of July and closed on the 5th of August 2010.

We've received 101 applications altogether: of which 69 applications for script development funding and 32 applications for project development funding. Out of the 69 applications for script development funding, 58 were for feature-length fiction films, 7 for feature-length documentaries and 4 applications were for feature-length animation films. Out of the total of 32 applications submitted for the project development funding: 19 were for feature-length fiction, 9 for feature film documentaries and 4 for feature-length animation films.

The results will be announced by the end of October 2010.