CROATIA: A Double Delight

ONE OF THE HOTTEST FILMING TERRITORIES FOR GOOD REASON WITH STUNNING HISTORIC AND COASTAL LOCATIONS, AN ABUNDANCE OF GREAT CREW AND A STABLE INCENTIVE PROGRAMME.

“WE WERE DRAWN TO THE BREATHTAKING HILLS OF ISTRIA, AS WELL AS THE BEAUTIFUL TOWNS OF MOTOVUN AND GROZNJAN.”

The Day of the Jackal © Carnival Film & TV Ltd 2023.

"THE WALLED CITY OF DUBROVNIK ALSO REMAINS A POPULAR SHOOTING SPOT, BOASTING A MIX OF ROMAN, MEDIEVAL, RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE."

Faraway © Olga Film & Netflix.

The US studios, streamers and even famous YouTubers are among many to descend on Croatia in the last couple of years to film their various projects. These include Sky Studios series The Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne, Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions’ film Speak no Evil, starring James McAvoy, BBC series SAS Rogue Heroes, Amazon series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf and YouTube sensation MrBeast’s latest video, which he shot in an abandoned hotel in Dubrovnik.

Many of these productions have taken advantage of a variety of locations across Croatia, which they’ve often doubled for other countries, and accessed the enticing 25% financial incentive (which rises to 30% for productions that shoot in regions with below-average development), including spy thriller The Day of the Jackal, which shot in Dubrovnik, Zagreb and Istria.

“We managed to double Spanish locations in the town of Rabac on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula, and some French locations along the coast, in places like Opatija (on the Kvarner Gulf, known as the Croatian Riviera). Plus we shot some Afghanistan locations on the island of Pag,” says Erika Milutin, managing director of Embassy Films, the service provider of the series in Croatia.

Impressively, the production team also managed to shoot at the busy Zagreb airport. “It was complex preparation for very simple execution,” explains Milutin. “There were security measures and airport approval procedures to sort out and follow, but we were only filming on the outside, not inside, which meant just changing the approach to arrivals and departures and the parking lots. We were there with about 200 crew and trailers, but it all worked really well. It just took a little longer in terms of permits and prep.”

Milutin also provided production services on The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, which doubled Zadar for Mosul, Iraq. “The streets were similar, while the art and dressing departments changed things a bit, like signage. Lots of productions are now choosing to do their Middle East set projects here – it’s safe, great production value (in terms of history and costs) and the crew are excellent.”

On SAS: Rogue Heroes season two they needed extensive rural and town locations for Italy. “This led to a search for exteriors in Istria where it is 40% less than the cost of shooting in real Italy,” says Stephen Smallwood, series producer. “Since Venice had ruled Istria for approximately 400 years, the architecture was and is distinctly Italian in selected areas and it worked extremely well.”

Smallwood also points to the quality and low cost of the local crew and the cash rebate as enticing factors, “making shooting in Croatia advantageous”.

The only challenges that he highlights are the potential “wet weather and shortage of hotel rooms as the summer tourist season started. The schedule was very much worked around local accommodation issues, but successfully so.”

It was a similar story on Speak No Evil. “We were drawn to the breathtaking hills of Istria, as well as the beautiful towns of Motovun and Groznjan, which were perfect for our film,” says Paul Ritchie, producer of the film. “Secondly, the cash rebate is a huge part of deciding where to film in Europe and Croatia’s cash rebate programme has always been a reliable and straightforward system.”

Ritchie admits they had a short prep time, which made it challenging and they had to move fast, but “MP Film Production and Igor Nola were the perfect partners to help us achieve everything”.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE
Early 2024 proved particularly busy with productions. “There were so many projects coming in that I had to hire people to help,” says Andjela Prnjak, founder and CEO of production service providers and casting agents Croatian Creative Films. “One of these was the popular US reality show 90 Day Fiance, which shot for about 30 days in and around Split.”

The challenge on that project was that the locations kept changing because it’s a reality show, which meant “quickly thinking on my feet, like suddenly needing to find a bar overlooking the city. But I thrive on that challenge,” adds Prnjak.

Finding the right locations is a lot easier when there are so many good ones to choose from. “It’s amazing what and how much you can film in Croatia,” says Prnjak. “From Split with its beautiful beaches you can be in the mountains in half an hour, and then in an hour you’re in a completely different country (Bosnia). Plus there are so many little islands to choose from.”

The walled city of Dubrovnik also remains a popular shooting spot, boasting a mix of Roman, medieval, renaissance and baroque architecture, as well as beaches with azure seas, castles, vineyards, cobblestones and snowy peaks. The city has a good infrastructure, with an airport and hotels for large crews. HBO shot several seasons of Game Of Thrones there and more recently Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla and Sky’s biographical drama Lee, starring Kate Winslet, filmed in the city.

“Dubrovnik has a distinct look with incredible historic locations that were perfect,” says Milutin, who provided services for both projects. “On Lee, we used an abandoned resort called Kupari that was ideal as a war torn location. They wanted one with a Mediterranean feel, more French looking, so this worked, and was cheaper than building a set.”

While for Vikings: Valhalla, the production team had to shut down some city approaches and main streets. “We even shot in front of the Rector’s Palace and the main cathedral, which required special permission, but the authorities were very co-operative. We just had to be careful to avoid tourists, so kept an eye on the number of cruise ships in town.”

The one thing productions need to be careful of when shooting in Dubrovnik is it’s a protected UNESCO World Heritage site.

Croatia’s capital Zagreb and the city of Rijeka are also popular shooting spots.

CREW AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Shooting at these locations can be relatively straightforward, say producers, but requires the assistance of experienced local production service providers and crew. There are plenty to choose from across Croatia, all of whom speak good English, including those quoted here.

Finding the right equipment is also easy through rental houses, most based in Zagreb, and general costs are lower than in the US and UK.

The one thing missing is studio space. The options are limited with the stand-out being Zagreb-based Jadran Film’s facility in the city with five soundstages, including one with an internal pool. There have been plans for a few years to build a state-of-the-art studio complex near Zagreb, but these have yet to be brought to fruition.

Looking ahead, after a relatively quiet few summer months, partly because of the US strikes and ensuing disputes, production levels are expected to rise again over the winter months and into 2025.

Main Image:

Leo Suter in Vikings Valhalla © Bernard Walsh/Netflix 2024.

Q&A

ERIKA MILUTIN

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Embassy Films

Q: Tell us about your work on the Searchlight musical drama film O’Dessa?

A: The whole film was done in Zagreb (apart from a few scenes in the US). They needed a post modern sort of look and used some of the demolished buildings for the story.

Q: Did the production use mostly local crew?

A: Yes, it was about 95% Croatian crew. The rebate requires international productions to use at least 50% local. But we need to expand our crew base because a lot of productions come here and take our best people back with them.

Q: What do you make of the studio situation in Croatia?

A: There needs to be more built. We actually used one as a location because it was so run down. The few that are usable tend to be booked up with local productions. So, much like the rest of the world, we end up converting warehouses into studio spaces (as we did on O’Dessa).