02/12/2025 - The producing duo discuss their ambitious new drama series, which won the Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award in this year’s TV Beats programme

Milena Džambasović (left) and Danna Stern

The series project Wool received the Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award, valued at €50,000, in this year’s Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event series-focused strand, TV Beats (see the news). Created by producer Milena Džambasović and co-written by Mladen Matićević, Stephie Theodora and Birkir Blær Ingólfsson, the six-episode drama is being produced by Džambasović for Belgrade-based Film Road Production, in co-production with Hörður Rúnarsson for ACT4 and Danna Stern for In Transit Productions. Based on the true story of Sirogojno, a remote Serbian village that rose to fame in the international fashion world, the project brings together the themes of cultural heritage, women’s empowerment and intergenerational community.

Cineuropa: Wool draws on a true story; could you walk us through the world of the show and highlight the elements you consider most essential to its identity?
Milena Džambasović: Wool is a six-episode drama series based on the remarkable true story of Sirogojno, a remote Serbian village that transformed into an unexpected global fashion phenomenon. At the heart of our story, which is set between 1965 and 1980, stands Dobrila Smiljanic, whose visionary leadership took traditional village knitting from rural Yugoslavia to the runways of Paris Fashion Week, with stops in Iceland along the way.

The series highlights how entrepreneurship became a vehicle for women's empowerment, as village women leveraged their ancestral knitting skills to achieve economic independence, a shift that fundamentally challenged their patriarchal social order. Beyond the business success, the knitting circles themselves became vital gathering spaces where women forged deep bonds of sisterhood, exchanging confidences and gossip while collectively building an enterprise that would change their lives forever.

I grew up in these Serbian hills – this is my personal passion project, bringing authenticity to a colourful, funny and aspirational story that proves that humble beginnings and skilled hands can create something beautiful that connects generations and communities across countries. Also, knitting is cool again!

Could you give us an update on where you currently stand creatively and strategically, and what the next key steps will be?
MD, Danna Stern: We're currently in development and are writing the first scripts. We are also actively seeking the right partners – broadcasters and distributors – who will share our vision for this story.

This year’s TV Beats once again positioned itself as a major platform for emerging and established European series creators. How did the meetings and discussions at the event shape your understanding of the project’s potential and its reception among professionals?
MD, DS: We deeply appreciate the chance we had to showcase our project at TV Beats, an event we regard as essential for industry professionals. The TV Beats team has provided exceptional support throughout, and the breadth of awards available has been remarkable. Having this calibre of industry access and financing available to smaller territories, like ours, has been invaluable – it creates vital connections that can elevate regional narratives onto the international stage.

The Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award offers both financial stability and added visibility. How do you plan to use this support to further develop your project?
MD, DS: The award grants us the opportunity to properly develop our project – giving us time to craft our scripts with the care this story deserves. It also enables us to bring international writers onto our team, to work closely with creatives to help set the right tone for our series and to use additional resources to capture the right visual style – after all, it is (also) a show about fashion.

Do you have an estimation as to when your series might be ready?
MD, DS: We're aiming to start pre-production at the beginning of 2027, with the goal of launching the series in 2028.  We can’t wait to bring Wool to audiences!