Yahoo News Beta Film Drives into Europe’s Adria Region, Investing in Drugi Plan (EXCLUSIVE)
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BERLIN — Underscoring its ambitions for Central and Eastern Europe, “Babylon Berlin” and “Gomorrah’s” Beta Film has just taken a majority stake in Zagreb-based Drugi Plan, producers of Netflix pick-up “The Paper” and “Success,” HBO Europe’s first HBO Adria original.
The investment builds on Beta Film owner Jan Mojto’s determination to plow ever more into production and target shows, companies and regions with international potential, endowing them with international level financial resources to realize their potential.
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Beta Film has begun to build up a portfolio of Eastern European productions, joining forces with HBO Europe on Agnieszka Holland’s multiple-prized “Burning Bush” as well as “Wasteland, with Robert Dornhelm on “Maria Theresa,” and Dariusz Jablonski on “The Pleasure Principle,” the first co-production between Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine, showcased at Series Mania.
A Munich-based production, financing and distribution powerhouse, Beta Film already linked up with Drugi Plan on projects Drugi Plan has developed for regional and international markets with partners from Iceland, Ukraine and Russia.
One project, upcoming six-part drug trafficking thriller “Amnesia,” set on the Croatian border and starring Branka Katić (Marvel’s “Captain America – The Winter Soldier”), is due to go into production later this year.
The majority participation now takes the Drugi Plan to a new level, marking the latest growth milestone for the Croatian company founded in 2004 by Nebojša Taraba and Miodrag Sila.
First focusing on documentaries, and working with all three Croatian national TV stations – HRT, Nova TV, RTL – Drugi Plan moved into artistically ambitious drama series production, establishing itself as a leading player in the Adria region of Adriatic Coast countries. Drugi Plan impressed particularly with 2019’s crescendoing noir-ish thriller “Success,” written by Marjan Alčevski and the first scripted series directed by Academy Award-winner Danis Tanovic (“No Man’s Land”), underscoring the collusion in a corruption-sodden Zagreb between big business, organized crime, justice and politics.
“This is the great moment, not only for our company, but for the Croatian and regional audiovisual industry as well. It is a great push for our longstanding efforts to overcome existing market segmentation,” said Drugi Plan-managing directors Taraba and Sila. They added:
“We are sure that Beta’s presence in the Adria region will contribute to market consolidation and will dramatically increase co-production potential of the whole territory.
“The whole Adria region is not only an endless source of untold drama, but also offers a great potential in terms of creative talents and high production quality,” said Beta Film managing director Moritz von Kruedener. “With the co-operation with Drugi plan we want to build a bridge to this region.”
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