NEM Zagreb 2023:
What happened during the second day?

The second day of NEM Zagreb 2023, an event focusing on television series and film production, continued with presentations of recent TV projects developed within the CEE region, providing visitors with plenty of opportunity to meet and talk shop with fellow TV producers and take part in panels focusing on the latest trends in television industry.

For the first time at NEM Zagreb, the winners of the NEM Awards contest were announced at a Christmas party hosted by Mediavision, Mediatranslations and Pickbox. The winners of NEM Awards in five different competition categories include:

⋅ Scripted Series: Rene Gallo – “Mild Miracles”
⋅ Scripted Feature-length film: Mile Božićević – “Mothers of Humanity” and Daria Stilin – “Tied Up”
⋅ Documentary Series / Feature-Length Documentary Film: Julia Groszek – “Sugarland”
⋅ Non-Scripted Entertainment Format: Martichka Bozhilova and Iskra Angelova – “Eat a Book”
⋅ The Best Drama TV Series in the CEE: “Spy / Master” – Warner Bros. Discovery

“This year’s judging has been of the highest quality, with top professionals from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other countries outside the CEE region as jurors. We wanted to make sure the judging would be fair to all participants, about 250 in all, in different categories of the contest,”   said Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, CEO of Pickbox, Mediatranslations, Mediavision and NEM.

●  CONTENT SHOWCASE

Content Showcase, a program showcasing new television projects, proved the strength of the CEE region in creativity and innovation. Marek Solon-Lipiński, Director of International Relations at TVP, introduced a program that featured presentations of the following projects: “Frontwards,” “The Vespiary,” “Winemaker’s Daugther,” “The Lake,” and BH Telecom.

The education options provided at NEM Zagreb have also been acclaimed as educational opportunities of the highest level. As part of the award for the top 3 finalists in each category of NEM Contest, Individual Script Surgery workshops were a two-day event that provided an in-depth analysis of the best projects entered in the contest.

There were also two Master Class events, one by Steve Matthews, Scripted Content Executive at Banijay, who discussed the complexities of developing a television series from selling the project to key stages of its production, and the other one by Frank Spotnitz, CEO & Executive Producer at Big Light Productions, who shared knowledge and practical advice on improving scriptwriting skills.

●  NETWORKING AT SPECIAL EVENTS

Co-production Lunch & Forum, sponsored by Heart of Europe, was an invitation-only event for participants who were invited to take part in the discussion on coproduction between high- and low-production countries.

One of the NEM Zagreb main goals has been to create a platform that would bring together regional talent and international professional experience at specialized mini networking events such as NEM Contest Gathering, also sponsored by HAVC as NEM Contest general sponsor. In the Meeting Room, authors of the ten best projects from each of the categories of NEM Contest were invited to join members of the contest jury, who could not only share their experience and expert advice but also offer an opportunity to work with them on projects they find interesting for further development.

●  PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Panel “CEE FTA Originals on the Global Map,” sponsored by TVP, invited the participants to discuss the pros and cons of national television strategies for developing original productions. Meanwhile, in her introductory remarks, Martina Petrović, Head of CED MEDIA Office Croatia, talked about the Creative Europe MEDIA initiative before proceeding to host the panel on “TV series and Creative Europe MEDIA: Our Success Stories!” The discussions at the panel included topics such as challenges faced by small countries whose national language is largely unknown outside the country and the specific production challenges associated with their situation.

Future coproductions between CEE countries and high-production countries was the central theme of the panel “High-production Countries and CEE: How Can We Work Together?.” Moreover, as the overlap between the gaming and television industries has been growing at an increasing speed, the future developments of the two industries and their symbiotic potential was the central topic at the panel entitled “Gaming and TV: A Match Made in Heaven or a Recipe for Disaster?.”

The discussion at the “Difference Between Corporation-led and Public Broadcaster Co-production” panel focused on the different ways regulatory legislation concerning culture may influence coproduction ventures in television and film industries. In addition, the panel “Book to Screen: Navigating the Unique Challenges of Book Adaptations in Film and TV” analyzed if it is possible to keep all elements of the original story functional when adapting books.

At the “NEM Success Story ‘WOOL’” panel, Milena Džambasović, Owner and Producer of Film Road Production and last year’s winner of the best script award in the scripted category contest, talked about the successful development of her project. Dana Stern, Global Content Executive, talked about the current negotiations regarding its production by several national television channels and preliminary negotiations with distributors, coproducers and financiers that are in progress, leading to the production of the first episode.

Detailed information about all the events are available at NEM Zagreb 2023 official website.