Godinu 2014. obilježilo je spajanje dvaju potprograma: Kultura i MEDIA u jedinstven Program Kreativna Europa. To je ujedno bio početak sedmogodišnjeg razdoblja hrvatskog sudjelovanja u Potprogramu MEDIA 2014. – 2020. Brojka sedam sa sobom nosi određenu pozitivnu simboliku. Naime, često je vezana uz sreću, savršenstvo i ponovnu obnovu. Taj isti broj, u užem ili širem smislu, pratio je hrvatske korisnike koji su briljirali u navedenom sedmogodišnjem razdoblju. Drugim riječima, 70 različitih organizacija osiguralo je rekordan iznos od 6,9 milijuna eura! Potprogram MEDIA pruža potporu putem 14 poziva za podnošenje projektnih prijedloga, a hrvatski su korisnici u završnoj, rekordnoj godini Potprograma bili uspješni u čak 11 kategorija.
Slijedom toga osigurana je potpora za razvoj 49 hrvatskih dugometražnih filmova i TV serija te 1 kratki animirani film (pojedinačni i skupni projekti), 2 televizijska projekta u sklopu zahtjevnog poziva za TV prikazivanje i 4 hrvatske videoigre. Kada govorimo o pozivima koji se odnose na promidžbu i distribuciju europskog filma, važno je istaknuti da je čak 14 hrvatskih kina osiguralo potporu putem jedinstvene mreže kina Europa Cinemas, ukupno je deset hrvatskih distributera osiguralo potporu za distribuciju europskog filma, dok je pet hrvatskih filmskih festivala 2014. i 2015. godine uspjelo prema osiguranim sredstvima i ukupnom broju podržanih festivala pozicionirati Hrvatsku na visoko treće mjesto u odnosu na 39 zemalja članica Potprograma MEDIA, a dva hrvatska filmska festivala 2020. godine sudjeluju putem poziva za europske mreže festivala. Također, tu je i jedini hrvatski program stručnog usavršavanja (ZagrebDox Pro) koji kontinuirano dobiva sredstva Potprograma MEDIA još od 2012. godine. Pozivima za razvoj publike, filmsko obrazovanje, promidžbu europskih audiovizualnih djela putem interneta te pilot-projekta Europske komisije „Kina kao inovativni centri za lokalne zajednice“ hrvatske organizacije su, bilo s pozicije nositelja projekta ili partnera, sudjelovale u čak 12 projekata.
Ponosni smo na hrvatske rezultate, odnosno na ukupan iznos od 10 milijuna eura koji su hrvatski korisnici uspjeli osigurati putem različitih poziva Potprograma MEDIA od sredine rujna 2008. godine sve do danas. Pritom bi svakako željeli istaknuti da se Hrvatska uspjela pozicionirati i nametnuti svojim rezultatima u odnosu na zemlje članice Europske unije. Često su hrvatski prijavitelji, tj. hrvatski korisnici, natječući se s „velikim“ zemljama članicama bili pri samome vrhu ljestvice uspješnosti s obzirom na ukupan broj odobrenih projekata ili na temelju ukupno ostvarenih financijskih iznosa.
Iako Desk ima zadaću pružati savjete i odgovarati na upite hrvatskih filmskih i televizijskih profesionalaca i autora videoigara, objašnjavajući im različite strategije financiranja i kriterije prihvatljivosti njihovih djela, nastojimo u isto vrijeme biti aktivni i u osmišljavanju i organizaciji inovativnih i kreativnih radionica – bitnih instrumenata izobrazbe, informiranja i umrežavanja kako hrvatskih, tako i europskih filmskih profesionalaca. S obzirom na sve to, posebno želimo istaknuti da je DKE – Ured MEDIA RH u navedenom razdoblju sudjelovao te (su)organizirao ukupno 218 događanja. Među inima svakako želimo istaknuti da smo 2015. godine, na poziv malteške zastupnice u Europskom parlamentu, imali priliku zastupati poziciju i interese tzv. malih zemalja, odnosno zemalja niskog AV produkcijskog kapaciteta, među kojima se nalazi i Hrvatska. Također, 2018. godine odlučili smo obilježiti deset godina Potprograma MEDIA u Hrvatskoj te deset godina rada Deska organizacijom konferencije koja je na jednome mjestu okupila predstavnice Europske komisije, Europskog parlamenta, mreže Europa Cinemas, udruženja European Women Associationa i European Film Promotiona, radionica usavršavanja kao što su EAVE i MIDPOINT, raznih prodajnih agencija, festivala, produkcijskih i distribucijskih kuća, uključujući predstavnice hrvatske audiovizualne industrije. I, naravno, posebno želimo istaknuti da je tom prigodom gđa Mariya Gabriel, povjerenica Europske komisije za inovacije, istraživanja, kulturu, obrazovanje i mlade, prvi put službeno posjetila Hrvatsku.
Kada govorimo o sudjelovanju žena u sklopu poziva Potprograma MEDIA, važno je istaknuti da je za razdoblje 2014. – 2020. od ukupnog broja prijavljenih organizacija zabilježeno da u 50% njih sudjeluju žene koje su na vodećim pozicijama, i to redom: 13 hrvatskih producentica te 10 redateljica koje su zastupljene u sklopu 23 hrvatska filma / TV serije, četiri predstavnice projekta promidžbe europskih AV djela putem interneta, četiri predstavnice pilot-projekta „ Kina kao inovativni centri za lokalne zajednice“, tri predstavnice festivala i mreža festivala te jedna predstavnica jedinog hrvatskog kontinuiranog usavršavanja.
Sedmogodišnji hrvatski uspjeh u sklopu Potprograma MEDIA rezultat je zajedničke i međusobne suradnje hrvatskih korisnika i DKE – Ureda MEDIA Hrvatske. Hrvatski filmaši često su pozvani na različite radionice u drugim zemljama, sudjeluju u različitim vrstama edukacije i sve su prisutniji na europskoj, odnosno međunarodnoj sceni, a ni hrvatski film više nije nepoznanica.
The year 2014 was marked by the merging of two sub-programmes: Culture and MEDIA into the unified Creative Europe Programme. This was also the beginning of a seven-year period of Croatian participation in the MEDIA subprogramme 2014 – 2020. The number seven is endowed with certain positive symbolism. It is often connected to good fortune, perfection and renewal. This same number, in some form or another, has been related to Croatian beneficiaries who have excelled during this seven-year period. In other words, 70 different organisations secured a record amount of 6.9 million euros! The MEDIA sub-programme provides support through 14 calls for project proposals. In 2020, the record-breaking final year of the sub-programme, Croatian beneficiaries were successful in 11 categories.
Consequently, 49 Croatian feature-length films and TV series, as well as 1 short animted film (single and slate funding schemes ) received development support, 2 TV projects through the highly demanding call for TV programming, as well as 4 video games. Speaking of calls related to the promotion and distribution of European films, it is worth noting that as many as 14 Croatian cinemas secured funds through the unified network of cinemas Europa Cinemas. A total of ten Croatian distributors secured funding for the distribution of European films. While in 2015, five Croatian film festivals were successful in their applications. This placed Croatia at third place among the 39 MEDIA sub-programme member countries. Since 2020, two Croatian festivals participate in the sub-programme through the European Festival Networks scheme.
There is also the only Croatian professional training programme (ZagrebDox Pro), which received support from the MEDIA subprogramme and has done so continually since 2012. Croatian entities, both in the capacity as project coordinator and partner, participated in as many as 12 projects, through the audience development, film education and promotion of European audiovisual works online schemes, as well as the European Commission’s pilot project “Cinemas as Innovation Hubs for Local Communities.”
We are proud of the Croatian results, totalling 10 million euros, that Croatian applicants were able to secure through different calls of the MEDIA sub-programme from the middle of September 2008 to today. Here, we would definitely like to underline that Croatia has succeeded in positioning itself and producing competitive results compared to other EU member states. Competing with applications from the “big” EU member states, Croatian beneficiaries frequently achieved some of the top results in terms of the total number of approved projects or the total amount of support awarded.
Although the primary role of the Desk is to provide guidance for and respond to queries from Croatian film and television professionals and video game developers, elucidating the different financing strategies and eligibility criteria, we are also actively involved in conceiving and organising innovative and creative workshops, which are vital tools for education, exchange of information and networking of Croatian as well as European film professionals. Given all of this, we would especially like to highlight that during this period, the CED – MEDIA Office Croatia participated in and (co)-organised a total of 218 events.
Among this wide array of events, we would like to especially emphasize that in 2015, at the invitation of the Maltese Member of the European Parliament Marlena Mizzi, we had the opportunity to present the position and interests of so-called small countries, namely low AV production capacity countries, of which Croatia is one. Furthermore, in 2018, we decided to mark the ten years of Croatia’s participation in the MEDIA subprogramme, and the ten working years of the Desk, by organising a conference that brought together female representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament, Europa Cinemas, European Women Association and European Film Promotion, as well as representatives of training programmes such as EAVE and MIDPOINT, different sales agencies, festivals, production and distribution houses, along with representatives of the Croatian AV industry.
We would like to particularly highlight that for this occasion the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel, arrived for her first official visit to Croatia.
When speaking about the participation of women in the MEDIA sub-programme, it is important to highlight that during the 2014 – 2020 period, within 50% of all organisations that submitted their applications, women held leading positions. These include 13 Croatian female producers and 10 female directors that represented 23 Croatian films/TV series. In addition, four women represented projects related to the promotion of European AV works online. Another four represented the pilot project “Cinemas as Innovation Hubs for Local Communities”. Three represented festivals and festival networks. And one was representative of the only Croatian professional training programme.
The seven years of Croatia’s success within the MEDIA sub-programme are the result of joint and mutual cooperation between Croatian beneficiaries and the CED – MEDIA Office Croatia. Croatian filmmakers were frequently invited to participate in different workshops abroad. They often participated in diverse training programmes and increased their presence on the European and international scenes, as Croatian film became increasingly more recognisable.
