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SERBIA safe hands work and live in a city that offers you safety and quality of life makes it a good home when you are working.” In April 2020 financier Head Gear Films, an industry leader in production services and debt finance to independent media projects, expanded to Serbia, partnering with Balkanic Media to provide a USD25 million credit facility to cash flow the government cash rebate, focusing mainly on TV projects. Bozic explains the credit facility “opens doors to midbudget and independent projects that never shot in this part of Europe to experience the quality of work and collaborate with Serbian talents. It is also a signal for other investments in studio and postproduction facilities that are happening at the moment.” Another example of continued investment is recently opened Belgrade postproduction facility 447HUB, which provides high-end editing and colour grading facilities.
serbia has a thriving industry attracting advertising, film and tV projects from across the globe. increasing investment in studio and postproduction means that the industry continues to serve the needs of the international production community.
erbia is one of the few countries in Europe with a cash rebate that accommodates advertising production making it a popular destination for the sector. In 2020 40 TVC’s benefitted from its 20% cash rebate including productions from the likes of Stink Films, Biscuit Films and brands such as Lexus, Mercedes and Adidas.
For TV, feature film, animation and documentary and VFX work the rebate increases to 25%, and feature films spending over EUR5 million can access 30%. Recent large scale productions include CW fantasy series The Outpost and feature film The Machine for Legendary Entertainment.
“the reBate makes the already low-cost of working in serBia even more Budgetfriendly But the country’s appeal goes Beyond this.”
The rebate makes the already low-cost of working in Serbia even more budget-friendly but the country’s appeal goes beyond this. Milica Bozanic, executive director of the Serbian Film Commission says: “Brutalist architecture and abandoned industrial sites have proven to be highly inspirational for a new generation of directors in advertising. TV series benefit from studio infrastructure and great production design and backlots, while feature films successfully combine many faces of Belgrade streets to double for cities around Europe, while some of them explore remote nature and mountain sights never seen on screen. On top of that another attraction is the welcoming and vibrant Serbian lifestyle. Especially in the era of pandemics, being able to
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Jelasnicka Gorge
The gorge is close to the city of Nis in Southern Serbia. Nicely accessible to productions from a main road serviced by a public bus, the gorge itself stretches just two kilometres. Varied rock formations such as stone windows, cavelets and a waterfall, as well as 200 free climbing routes for sports climbers, makes it a popular destination. UK-Serbian co-production The Ledge directed by Howard J. Ford shot in Jelasnicka in October 2020. The thriller tells the story of a young woman who finds herself free-climbing up a freezing mountain pursued by a group of murderous men who just threw her companion off the mountain.
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