The story of “Success” has begun! It might sound like an invitation to a self-help course, and that is not completely off the mark, as you will be able to see soon when the first HBO TV-series filmed in the Croatian language is broadcast. The screenplay written by Marjan Alčevski is directed by Oscar-winning director Danis Tanović, and HBO is finishing the production of the TV series filmed in Zagreb, reports Večernji List on November 24, 2018.
“I often worked in countries of Central and Southeast Europe where we filmed screenplays written by famous screenwriters, but I noticed that we actually did nothing for the local authors. It was undeniable that there is raw talent here, and it was certainly possible that there were very good screenplays being written. We have therefore organized the First Draft competition, and now we have the first TV series from this language area, which has been selected among 400 applications,” said HBO Europe’s Steve Matthews.
Marjan Alčevski is understandably excited ahead of the launch. “First of all, it was hard to believe my screenplay would be filmed by Danis Tanović. I am happy with what has been done, I can see my story was made right, but the real excitement has only begun today because what the audience says is the only important thing,” said Alčevski.
The series filmed in Zagreb primarily deals with the life in the city through the stories of four characters that will be interwoven, but HBO expects that other cities from the neighboring countries will also be able to see themselves in Zagreb. According to Matthews, they did not look for a series that would deal with local political events, but an author who has something to say. For Tanović, this is the first TV series that he directed.
Ana Balentović of HBO Adria explained that they want to sell the series to other markets as well, adding that there is already interest in buying the rights for the United States. In addition to the casting that was extensive and thorough, the producers had other challenges as well.
“We had to change the shooting schedule a bit. When we started shooting, Zagreb looked more like Vladivostok, it was covered with snow and the temperature was extremely low. So we first filmed indoor scenes and then filmed all the night scenes outdoors in just ten days. We would like to thank the citizens of Zagreb who welcomed our production, but also the town and state authorities which allowed us to close the Youth Bridge for the shooting,” said Nebojša Taraba of the Drugi Plan production company.
For more on filming in Croatia, click here.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Zoran Vitas).
