Slovenia Country Profile 2011

LJUBLJANA: The 2011 year saw a strong start for the film industry in Slovenia, with the launch of the Slovenian Film Center (SFC; www.film-center.si). The new public agency replaced the Slovenian Film Fund (SFF), the public fund founded in 1994, and established a new film financing and grants system.

Jožko Rutar was elected as the new director of SFC and took the post on 1 July 2011 for a five year term, ending 1 July 2016. Together with the launch of SFC a new financing and grants system was introduced. Grants are now not greater than 50% of the budget for most films, except for youth and low-budget films (under €700,000) where support can be as much as 80%. In the past, SFF covered up to 100% of a film's budget. Unlike SFF, SFC does not participate in film production as an investor, and does not share in any film profits. According to new laws, the national broadcaster RTV Slovenija is required to contribute 2.5% of the income from its mandatory license fees (approximately €2,000,000) for film co-productions with independent producers. All other nationally distributed TV stations have to give 5% of their advertising income for the co-production of features or TV films. In theory this should bring additional €2,500,000 Euros for Slovenian cinema, but RTV Slovenija submitted this part of the law to constitutional review, therefore it has had no practical effect up till now.

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FNE at DISCOP Budapest 2011: Slovenia

LJUBLJANA: Original programming is currently down slightly in Slovenia, but there are some bright spots on the market as a whole, including local adaptations of reality formats and fiction programmes. And with regional international players on the Slovenian market, as well as growing cooperation among former Yugoslav republics, the trend is likely to strengthen.

The TV market in Slovenia is dominated by national public broadcaster RTV Slovenija (www.rtvslo.si), CEE broadcaster Central European Media Enterprises (www.cetv-net.com) which owns POP TV, Kanal A, and POP BRIO, and commercial television TV3 (www.tv3.si), which is part of the Modern Times Group (www.mtg.se).

RTV Slovenija is the source of most of the original locally produced television content. Among its most popular programmes are entertainment shows Na zdravje, Spet doma and NLP. In 2011 RTV Slovenija reduced the number of originally produced entertainment shows from four per week to two; however, new formats will be introduced in the fall of 2011. RTV Slovenija usually produces its own original fiction series and television films, a notable exception being the sitcom Brat bratu (2008), which was an adaptation of British sitcom Only Fools and Horses.

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  FNE 2010 Year in Review: Slovenia's Great Expectations

Slovenian filmmakers and producer had great expectation for the year 2010. With 2011 on the horizon, some of those expectations have become reality.

A new Minister of Culture, Majda Širca (www.mk.gov.si), appointed in the end of 2008, announced changes and the completion of the laws on public broadcaster RTV (www.rtvslo.si) and the Slovenian Film Fund (www.film-sklad.si), designed to assure stability in Slovenian film production. As a former film publicist and TV journalist for national broadcaster RTV, her words had credence. Both of the laws were finally passed in autumn 2010. Širca argued that the long wait was necessary for their careful preparation, which involved the participation of many media experts. Nevertheless neither filmmakers and film producers nor broadcaster RTV have welcomed those laws with great joy.

The law established the Slovenian Film Center (SFC), a public agency replacing the Slovenian Film Fund (SFF), as of January 2011. SFC is to be a modern, transparent and efficient agency whose primary task will be to support the development and production of Slovenian film. The SFC will introduce a new financing and grants system. The grants will be not greater than 50% of the budget for most films, except for youth and low-budget films (under 700,000 Euros) where support can be as much as 80% of the production budget. In the past, SFF covered up to 100% of a film's budget. Unlike SFF, SFC will not participate in film production as an investor, and will not share in any film profits. Most Slovenian producers and directors are skeptical about the new institution, primarily because it is still unknown if funding will reach or exceed the current 5 million euros for annual film production.

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