Finding a more global audience and reaching the diaspora has always been a challenge for Croatian-language media, and one of the reasons why I enjoy running TCN so much. There is so much amazing content taking place in Croatia every day all over the country, the majority of which sadly remains in the Croatian language, and as such is only consumed by a tiny percentage of its potential audience. Simply retelling those stories on TCN in English immediately widens the appeal and interest, and I have been fortunate to have had so much incredible content to choose from over the years.
Reaching more international markets as a Croatian broadcaster can be particularly challenging, with few Croatian-language productions making it to the international stage (the excellent The Paper on Netflix) is a notable exception.
And so I am intrigued to follow the progress of an interesting new teen series called The Outsiders, which aired its first episode on the phenomenally successful JoomBoos YouTube channel this week, and which will be broadcasting a new episode each Thursday. It is I think the first bilingual teen series in the region, predominantly in English, but with a sizable amount in Croatian, from different dialects (subtitles are available). I have to say that I like the format and the way it is put together. A little more on the plot and the project as it was introduced on 24Sata, and you can watch the trailer, first episode, and trailer for the second episode which will air next Thursday.
But it’s time to officially meet the first bilingual series in the region – JoomBoos’ new hit ‘The Outsiders’! The first, official trailer for our new series, which you will be able to watch exclusively on JoomBoos from June this year, has just been released on our YouTube channel.
The plot of the series follows a young boy named Noah. Because of the work his mother does, he moves to a new country, a new home, every few years. This time he arrives in Zagreb from London and starts again. New school, new rules, new apartment, new social life … yet to be found. Shortly after arriving in Zagreb, he ‘invades’ a society that everyone at school calls ‘outsiders’. They are unusual, they have their own rules, they have their own passions and ambitions, they love to hang out in their little box and they try to force the rest of the world out.
Elena, Vito, Patrik, Andrija and Noah become friends after his arrival in Croatia and their private school, but their journey does not go too smoothly and without quarrels, drama, anger, jealousy … The whole story is further complicated by the main mean girl at school, Nina, who wants to ruin the plans of the ‘outsider’ team at any cost.
Digital Nomad Series This series is about a new generation of kids. About digital nomads who don’t tie their lives to one place, even though they are constantly looking for a sense of belonging, a sense of home. They’re some new kids, they’re third culture kids. This is exactly the character of Noah, who, in his travels, is always looking for a safe haven, no matter how much he enjoys the process. In addition to enjoyment, there are also torments because every now and then you have to adapt to new people, a new environment. Well, the same story awaits him in Zagreb … Will he really have to change in order to fit in, or will he find people like him who will give him a sense of security, friendship and love? Will he find just that in the ‘outsiders’ with whom he will go through really different things during all the episodes of this new JoomBoos series?
One of the authors of the series, Bruno Mustić, claims that a totally natural symbiosis of this project and JoomBoos, which was the ideal platform for presenting the idea of this series, took place during this exciting period. “This ‘symbiosis’ was so natural followers will recognize the potential and fall in love with our characters and our story “, said Bruno. Apart from speaking English in the series, which is natural for Noah (Josh), other actors come from different parts of Croatia and will present several dialects and slang that will blend perfectly into this ‘bilingual’ project.
“Given that content in the local language is difficult to pass outside the home country, we came up with the concept of a bilingual series, but we were guided by the fact that bilingualism must be dramaturgically justified,” Bruno explained the idea behind it all. And this very moment is just one of the reasons why this series is already being talked about far beyond the borders of Lijepa Naša. And we will talk about him … Follow ‘The Outsiders’ this summer exclusively on JoomBoos The main character was played by English actor Josh Thorley, who really traveled to Zagreb from London for filming. And he really liked staying here for those few weeks, he admitted in an exclusive interview, which you will be able to watch on the YouTube channel 24sata Oriđiđi! In the series, in addition to the main characters, there are also some other famous faces such as the famous local actor, Goran Grgić, and the most famous local Tiktokers and JoomBoos’ Mimiermakeup.
For more on lifestyle in Croatia, visit the dedicated TCN section.
