14/12/2022 - A wide array of industry events on the topics of FTA television, pay-TV channels and streaming services in the CEE region formed the programme of this year’s Croatian gathering

A moment during the “Co-production: Low and High Production Countries” panel

NEM (New Europe Market) started off as an event happening annually in Dubrovnik in June from 2013 onwards, and is dedicated to the TV and streaming business. In 2019, another event, happening in December, was created in Zagreb to complement it. After a two-year pause owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, NEM Zagreb returned this year with an in-person event that took place in the Esplanade Hotel in the centre of the Croatian capital. This year’s edition brought a varied selection of panels, presentations, Q&A sessions and content showcases, as well as a TV-writing contest and pitching forum.

Six projects were pitched in two categories (scripted and unscripted) of the TV-writing contest. The winner in each category won a prize of €3,000. The victors were Hrvoje Osvadić and Jasna Nanut’s The Dream Pension in the unscripted strand, and Milena Džambasović and Matija Dragojević’s Wool in the scripted category.

The participants in a panel titled “Co-production: Low and High Production Countries” attempted to answer the question of what the big productions are searching for in a partner from low-production countries willing to enter into co-productions. The panellists were Moritz Polter (managing director and executive producer at Windlight Pictures), Emmanuel Eckert (deputy director of acquisitions at Mediawan), producer Ankica Jurić Tilić (Kinorama) and global content executive Danna Stern, while Jonathan Broughton (head of strategy at the EBU) served as the moderator.

At another panel, titled “What Are the Biggest Challenges One Can Face in a Leadership Role?”, two TV executives, Matthias Settele (general director of TV Markiza and editorial board member of CME) and Emil Koshlukov (general director of Bulgarian National Television), discussed the challenges of managing TV stations in the present day. It was moderated by Maria Rua Aguete, executive director of Omdia.

In “How to Approach True Stories?”, the panellists tried to answer the questions of what can be labelled as a true story and how far screenwriters can deviate from the truth. The speakers, under the moderation of Richard Middleton (managing editor at TBI), were CEO and executive producer of Big Light Productions Frank Spotnitz, Michael Iskas (CEO of Antenna Studios), CEO and executive producer of ShinAwiL Productions Larry Bass, Ryta Grebenshchikova (head of film production at UPHub) and Dariusz Jablonski, founder of Apple Film Production.

Another panel, “The Scandinavian Co-production Model in the Adriatic Region”, tried to uncover the secret behind the success of the Nordic co-production model and the chances of its being implemented in the region of the West Balkans. The speakers were Marike Muselaers (Lumière Group), Boban Jevtić (Firefly Productions) and Vanda Rapti (Viaplay Group), while producer Nebojša Taraba, of Drugi Plan, served as the moderator.

The case study “The Push for International Content: What Streamers Want”, presented by Guy Bisson (research director and co-founder of Ampere Analysis), was followed by a Q&A session with Vanda Rapti. Another case study, “Global Trends in Media”, presented by Maria Rua Aguete, was accompanied by a Q&A session with Daniel Friedlaender, Sky’s European Affairs director and the head of the Sky EU office. At “Co-production Business Practices”, which comprised standalone presentations, Frank Spotnitz and Marike Muselaers presented their experiences with international co-productions undertaken by their companies, while Amra Bakšić Čamo, film producer at SCCA/pro.ba (see the interview), held a Q&A session with journalist Antonija Mandić titled “Originals from Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

Different production companies, institutions, broadcasters and platforms presented their content at NEM Zagreb. Boban Jevtić presented Firefly Productions’ upcoming projects; Matej Lončarić and Igor Barberić showcased the content of Joomboos, the leading production company for TikTok content in Croatia; senior content sales manager Peter Torkeisson presented the content of Viaplay Group; Alba Pérez (fiction and entertainment programme coordinator) did likewise for Connecta; and Francesco Gorgoni, head of creative team at Casta Diva, showcased the company’s work. The fourth-year students in film and TV production at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) in Belgrade presented their tips and tricks, while Barbara Daljavec, of RTV Slovenia, presented the national broadcaster’s most recent and upcoming projects.

However, two of the biggest showcases were those of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Drama platform and BH Telecom. After Jovan Marjanović presented the accomplishments of the festival and the platform over the course of the past few years, and announced a new programme – co-production training for writers – Darko Lungulov and Dubravka Turić presented their TV series projects: the political thriller The Turkish Ambassador and the mystery-drama Rumpus, respectively.

The BH Telecom showcase was opened by Sedin Kahriman, who presented the company’s BH Content Lab platform and its activities, including its ongoing public call with a budget of €14 million. After that, the new projects that are poised to elevate Bosnian TV series production to a new level were presented by their creators, producers and cast members. The first season of The Hollow (created by Danis Tanović and Amra Bakšić Čamo) has already been aired in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the second season has been announced and is still awaiting regional and wider distribution. Srđan Vuletić’s Tender is a workplace sitcom, while Adnan Kapetanović’s On the Edge of Reason is a family-themed sitcom. Both are currently in post-production. Four more projects are in development: Amra Bakšić Čamo and Elma Tataragić’s sitcom Prince from L.A., Timur Makarević’s mystery-drama Komar, Jasmila Žbanić’s crime-drama I Know How You Breathe and Ademir Kenović’s drama series I Was Once an Imam.