1. What are your hopes and expectations from Emerging Producers?

My biggest motivation is to empower myself with knowledge and skills but also with professional networks in order to establish international visibility and festival, television and theatrical possibilities for projects I work on.

2. What are YOU bringing to Emerging Producers?

I am bringing first-hand experience of different roles combined in one person: I am an editor, director, screenwriter and a producer. When I joke, I call myself a “hybrid professional.” Apart from that variety of skills, I aspire to bring to the table years of experience working on different media platforms and projects (peace activism, education, experimental films and video wall interventions).

3. What is the position of documentary film in your country?

Documentary film in Croatia is an increasingly important field of creative expression. Documentaries have a vast audience. Creative documentary film is more and more acknowledged even though fiction is still the main field of interest. There are many documentary productions, mainly because production is in many ways cheaper than it was a couple of years ago, but also due to more efficient distribution channels. Documentaries are ever more present at festivals and on television.

4. What are the coproduction possibilities for documentary producers in your country?

The Croatian Audiovisual Center (Hrvatski audio vizualni centar – HAVC) is the country’s most important film fund. Within this fund there is a minority coproduction call for proposals. The film fund of the Municipality of Rijeka and the film fund of the Municipality of Zagreb are also potentially valuable sources; both cities finance films that use local authors or are of interest to the city. Another important coproducer in Croatia that offers a vast field of possibility is Croatian public television (Hrvatska televizija - HTV). Companies like HBO and Al Jazeera Balkans are on the rise as well.

5. What are your thoughts on the system of funding of documentary films today?

Only a couple of years ago, it was almost impossible for a young author or an unknown production to gain funding from public funds. Those were reserved mostly for well-established names and figures. When the national film fund was established in 2008, this changed and the funds were open to young authors, small productions and creative documentary projects. Nevertheless, most of the producers in Croatia have yet to learn their way around the Media fund, the mechanisms of international coproductions, markets, pre-sales, and distribution. Producers are getting more creative in finding different ways of financing, but mostly creating new audiences throughout crowd funding systems and similar approaches.

6. Which producer is your inspiration and ideal?

When I think nationally, that person is my colleague producer and director Dana Budisavljević (Hulahop production based in Zagreb) because of her admirable ability to transform the public discourse in our country with her brave films and projects. Internationally, it’s Sigrid Dykjaer whom I met recently at the DOK.Incubator workshop. Sigrid amazed me with her power of imagination, creative thinking and bravery in choosing the projects that are (sometimes) less likely to succeed commercially. Sigrid is one of the most experienced producers in Denmark.

 

Contact information:

FADE IN - Incredibly good institution

http://www.fadein.hr

Nova Ves 18, 10 000 Zagreb Croatia

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