Daily news about the shooting of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut reminds us that she and her team could now be here and not in Hungary. But this summer, the planned collaboration between this famous actress and Željko Mitrović, the owner, failed Pink Films International Studios (PFI), of Pink's film town in Šimanovci. However, immediately after this failed job (about which "Vreme" wrote, see No. 1026) two were realized, so a film is currently being shot in Pink's studios Lockout produced by Luc Besson, and the filming of the film is in preparation The Raven independent American productions directed by James Mac Tighe and starring John Cusack.
Pink's film city in Šimanovci near Belgrade is the only studio of its kind in the country (see box). Construction began five years ago, and it was opened in 2007, after the completion of the first five studies. Now there are eight of them, and the completion of Study no. 1, the largest of them. So far they are Dvojka and Threesome, with 1824 square meters and a height of 16 meters, which satisfies the creation of demanding scenography. At the moment, they are the center of a huge "spaceship", full of screens, computers, metal, lights - just as if it were a real spaceship, and not a set in which directors Stephen Saint Leger and James Mather are shooting a movie Lock Out. Outside the studio are the "members of the crew", waiting with a cigarette to be called to the shoot. The entire movie city looks like the scenery of an American film studio. "Intentionally, we tried to make our studios suitable for American and Western film crews," says Barbara Sandić-Štetić, one of the executive directors at PFI, and announces that when all that is planned is built, PFI have everything needed for the entire production of the film.
OFFER: In search of favorable and cheaper conditions, Hollywood moved part of the production to Eastern Europe a long time ago. That's how the first part of the cult film was shot in the Czech Republic in the mid-nineties Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, then others, and then A story about a knight, Narnia and similar blockbusters, so already in 2003, from the filming of foreign films, the state budget in this country was increased by 270 million dollars. The Czech Republic was followed by Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. With various benefits, low prices and good working conditions, they attracted Hollywood and other foreign productions and turned filmmaking into a lucrative state business. Namely, every recording is a safe income for the environment in which it is carried out, because every production includes accompanying costs, from paying for locations, equipment, cars, gasoline, hotels, restaurants, mobile phones, post-production work and similar necessities, and it also includes the employment of local filmmakers and those who are not. Specifically, for every dollar spent on film production, it was calculated, another $2,5 was spent on other costs.
Serbia has only invited foreign producers to shoot in our country since last year, although it has a long and successful tradition since the 1960s, when numerous foreign productions were filmed here, and in the 1980s, Serbia was the second European country in the number of co-productions and foreign productions. He was still active then Avala movie, the oldest and still the most famous film studio in Serbia. He's been in it since the first movie, Slavica Vjekoslav Afrić from 1947, until the last, Shadows of memories Predrag Velimirović from 2000, produced 200 feature films, 400 documentaries and about 120 co-production films. In the early nineties, Avala movie it became part of Jugoexport, which has been in bankruptcy since 2001. Since then it has been said that Avala movie needs to be saved.
Two years ago it was announced that two American companies were interested in Avala movie convert into Western film production, "a house that would be dedicated to the improvement of the film industry in Serbia". The meeting that was organized on that occasion between Boris Tadić and Robert De Niro in New York was assessed as important for starting the film industry in Serbia, and Joel Montgomery, a representative of one of the two interested American companies, spoke about the potential in an interview with "Politics" Avala film and Serbia, which can be directed towards film, but also with the intention of establishing a so-called creative association that would include all processes of film production.
Coincidentally or not, only half a year later, with the help of USAID, the Serbian Film Association was founded, a non-profit association of companies and independent workers in film and TV production with the aim of promoting Serbia as a suitable and favorable location for filming films. On the SFA website, it is written that about 40 countries in the world have such agencies, of which only SFA is not state-owned and the only one in Southeast Europe. He is a member of the International Association of Film Commissions (AFCI). It was founded by a dozen film companies and freelancers, and now there are 61 of them. Ana Ilić, executive director of the SFA, in an interview with "Vreme" says that they are all from the industry who can and want to do productions with foreign countries, for example: Discover African & Popcorn, Just Steel, Commune, PFI Studios, red production, Victoria movie, Work in Progress, Zillion Film... During one day of shooting a feature-length foreign film in Serbia, says Ana Ilić, the state is left with about 100.000 dollars, the average TV commercial can spend more than that, and the smallest production means an inflow of 50.000 dollars per week. Even a slightly demanding feature film employs around 50 people for the filming itself, and close to 500 around the filming. The SFA announces that by the end of this year, the total earnings from foreign productions in Serbia will be over 23 million dollars. For the sake of comparison, in 2007 it amounted to three million.
DEMAND: What do we offer foreigners? A combination of low prices and quality. Shooting in Serbia is 15 to 20 percent cheaper than in Romania, 20 percent than in Hungary and 40 percent than in the Czech Republic. According to the data that the SFA recommends to potential partners of domestic filmmakers, the sum of necessary items for production in Hungary is $17,073,210, and in Serbia it is lower by $4,731,684. Compared to the rest of the world, the savings are even greater: to shoot a film of average production in Los Angeles, for example, 22,2 million dollars would be spent, and in Serbia 37 percent less. "At such prices, we offer foreigners to make a film with us from start to finish, and in natural locations," says Ana Ilić, executive director of SFA. "Only in Belgrade can they shoot a film in an ancient setting, Turkish, Habsburg, in the setting of Soviet communism, in a modern one, if they need big rivers, we have two of them, the plains, mountains and the sea are close by, which greatly simplifies their work." Our people know English, they are trained and professional, we have scenographers and costume designers experienced in working with foreign productions, and in our studios they can complete both production and post-production."
Apart from the natural environment, a foreigner in Serbia can shoot a film in Pink's studios in Šimanovci (see box), use the laboratory Cinelabs Belgrade, and to do post-production at several studios. Famous British actor Rafe Fiennes finished shooting his directorial debut, the film, in Belgrade this May Coriolanus. In addition to famous foreign names, Dragan Mićanović, Marko Živić, Danijela Vranješ, Slavko Štimac, Slobodan Boda Ninković and hundreds of extras also starred in it. Judging by Fiennes's statements that were zealously reported by the media, he was satisfied with the local team he worked with and the conditions in which he worked, and especially that he was able to film in 36 locations around Belgrade, including in the Serbian Parliament. Serbian producers who cooperate with foreigners expect that Rafe Fiennes will be their best advertisement in the world.
The media reported that the budget was 20 million dollars Coriolanus, four million was allocated for filming in Serbia. The Serbian producer of Fiennes' film is Work in Progress, the most active in recent years in working with foreign colleagues. In addition to the two films currently being made in Belgrade - The Raven i Lockout - were co-producers on films Blum Brothers, Human ZOO, District 13 Ultimatum i The big picture – the last three in co-production with Luc Besson, then the titles Look stranger i Roadkill, the Italian TV series in 12 episodes under the title will be completed next year Commissioner Nardone. Anđelka Vlaisavljević, director and owner Work in Progress, in an interview with "Vreme" says that she got all the projects so far with the help of her agent in Los Angeles, but she thinks that it is extremely important that there is SFA, because because of that, we are perceived as more serious partners abroad. She would like the authorities and others concerned in Serbia to understand that organized cooperation with foreigners is important not only for the film but also for the promotion of Serbia: "Until recently, an actor from America asked me: Is Serbia Siberia?, and now he knows exactly who we are and what was filmed in our place." He explains that film is a business, and that from it "everyone involved in the making of a film, from the film studio, the wood industry that is used for scenography, the shops that sell screws, hotels, restaurants and taxis - the country in general, would benefit more if more films were shot in Serbia". Ana Ilić proves that we have the equipment and personnel for that Columbia's movie The other guys which was recently in cinemas, for which our Crater Studio radio special effects, as well as the information that three foreign productions were filmed in Belgrade at the same time last fall and that, along with domestic ones, around 2000 film workers were engaged at the same time.
WHAT'S MISSING?: If we have all that, what is missing? We don't have financial incentives, the so-called tax incentive for recording foreign productions that probably all countries have. Barbara Sandić-Štetić, one of the executive directors in PFI, says that "Hungary should return to the film crew 25 percent of the money it earned from them, in order to attract them and others to come again." In the US, only two states do not have this incentive, and the rest waive 20 to 45 percent of earnings. How important it is is best illustrated by the example of the Czech Republic. They were the first to make their way in this part of Europe, they made big and famous films, and then a few years ago Hungary introduced a stimulus and foreign producers moved to them. The Czech Republic is only recovering from that this year." Anđelka Vlaisavljević explains that this relief is not a gift from the state: "The calculation is simple: You have one million dollars, and the state returns what it collects through VAT and other taxes, it gives up $200.000, but the rest 800.000 enters the country and continues to spin. Only, for example, the scenography for Luc Besson's film was paid one and a half million dollars. My house will earn about 10 million dollars for the state this year. But, if the producer and his money do not come, there is nothing to spin."
And yet, despite the fact that there is no tax incentive, Serbia is at least 15 percent cheaper than neighboring countries. "That is true, but it is not enough." "A large producer will not risk coming to Serbia because of that 15 percent, when it is safer for him to go to Hungary, which is more developed than us and is a member of the EU," says Anđelka Vlaisavljević. "However, if we had 15 percent discounts, in addition to the already existing 15 percent, as we are cheaper, it would mean significant savings for the producer and they would choose us and not others." Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion, so it seemed that we would solve the problem of tax credits, but then colleagues from the Board of Directors of the Film Center of Serbia protested: "They estimated that that's the moment to provide money for the domestic film and they suggested that part of the money returned to the foreign film should also be for the domestic film, we supported them in that, but after that everything stopped. It is possible that the country needs to urgently decide on many laws, so the film is not important to them. Too bad. Film is a sweet profit: people come here for a couple of months, spend a lot of money, and then come back again. Fortunately, they are still coming back."
French director and producer Luc Besson is the best example of that: Lockout is the fourth film he shoots in Belgrade. A large number of foreign film producers visited Serbia this year in order to view the locations and infrastructure for the projects they plan to work on. The value of those projects is over 360 million dollars. It is possible to expect that some of these projects will be implemented next year.
"WEATHER": You claim that in terms of equipment and size, PFI Studios is the film center of Europe. Why?
ŽELJKO MITROVIĆ: With its production capacities – eight built studios (area of 600 m2 to 1800 m2), with office space, apartments for actors, make-up rooms, workshops for costume and scenography and with a field for outdoor construction, PFI Studios has great potential to become the preferred film destination of foreign producers. The construction of another largest studio with an area of 3600 m is underway2, which will also have a pool for underwater filming, which will position PFI Studios among the top five most complete and most modern film complexes in Europe.
Do you compete with European film centers in terms of production??
So far, several foreign projects have been filmed, and currently the filming of Luc Besson's sci-fi film has occupied all of our studio capacities for six months. Filming will follow The Raven, which is only partly filmed in Serbia and mostly in Hungary, due to the lack of state financial stimulus. I am unequivocally sure that Serbia would have an annual foreign exchange inflow of 300 to 500 million dollars from the film industry, not to mention the creation of new jobs, publicity and the image of the country, if only we, like others, had a tax incentive. It is incomprehensible why no one is interested in quickly passing these regulations and laws, I have the impression that it all has to do with the story of the neighbor and the cow.
How competitive is PFI on the foreign market??
The complete business strategy is based on high production capacities and relatively low prices, which is why our slogan reads PFI: Top quality competitive prices.
Given that it is risky to rely only on foreigners and that domestic film production is not large, whether the investment in PFI has started to pay off?
We are primarily oriented towards foreign film productions, so the planned studio infrastructure is in accordance with such a strategy. This does not mean that domestic cinematography is neglected, on the contrary. In the past few years, several domestic films were shot in our co-production: Angels 2, Angels 3, Ivko's glory, The fourth man, Obituary for Escobar and others.
Since every foreign project is important to you, why didn't you establish a collaboration with Angelina Jolie? Are the stories true that she had no intention of working with your studio, but with Work in Progress which would use the services of PFI ja?
Exactly, Pink Media Group was planned because of its capacity, and therefore we had negotiations in a Sarajevo restaurant Vinoteka. Unfortunately for me, the negotiations did not succeed, and the reason for such a business decision of mine is a trade secret.
Will you?, as they say, to build a film studio in both Bosnia and Montenegro?
The infrastructure we have in other countries implies synergy in all our business categories, including film, which means that we already have built capacities that can support the main production center in Belgrade.
