Filming in Croatia: Will 2017 Break Records?

Filming in Croatia (Image: Romulic&Stojcic/HAVC/Screenshot)

After a successful last few years attracting international TV and film productions, 2017 could be a record year for ‘Filming in Croatia’.

Thanks to a special tax incentive programme introduced five years ago, Croatia has attracted a number of major productions, including most famously Game of Thrones and Star Wars.

Croatian Audiovisual Centre recently revealed figures for 2016 in which seven international projects used the financial incentive programme for film and TV production – four feature films and three TV shows.

Game of Thrones in Dubrovnik (Credit: HBO)

Two of the feature films filmed in Croatia in 2016 have already had cinematic distribution, both Danish films: comedy Three heists and a hamster and Pound for pound.

Distribution of the Swedish comedy All Inclusive, filmed in Croatia, is also expected soon.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, filmed in Dubrovnik, is expected to hit cinemas in December 2017.

McMafia @BBC/Cuba Pictures/Nick Wall

TV shows that were shot on Croatian ground were History’s Knightfall and BBC’s McMafia and Year Million by National Geographic.

Whilst filming in Croatia, these productions have spent a total of 69.1 million kunas in Croatia on local products and services.

Knightfall filmed in Dubrovnik (Photo: Pakt Media)

2017 looks as if it could eclipse that figure with a number of international productions filming this year in Croatia.

In the first half of 2017 six international productions applied for the financial incentives programme, Croatian Audiovisual Centre reported.

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre says that 2017 could hit the 2015 record when 10 productions generated 22 million euros in local spend, or even pass it.

All the applied projects will be revealed after the procedure of returning funds is finished, but three projects were previously confirmed: Robin Hood Origins, filmed in Dubrovnik and Istria, TV show The Terror filmed on the island of Pag and McMafia, filmed on various locations from Zagreb to Rovinj, Pag and Split.

Taron Egeron and Eve Hewson on the Robin Hood set in Dubrovnik (Photo credit: Ivana Smilovic / The Dubrovnik Times)

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre declined to comment regarding recent reports in UK media about the next James Bond film being shot in Croatia.

Croatia may be a small country, but it has a vibrant film industry, exceptional local talent, and production companies with an impressive record in domestic and international production.

Dubrovnik has been a popular filming location

These factors, in combination with spectacular locations and the country’s proximity to some of Europe’s largest filmmaking centers such as Vienna, Budapest, Munich, and Prague have led to a steady rise in the international production of commercials, television serials and major international feature films shot in Croatia.