May 17, 2023

Crater Studio has again proved its expertise in making adorable animated characters and compositing excellence. One of the latest animated shorts created by its skillful crew – “Andy: A dog’s tale” has been already awarded by 24 awards, mostly for best short film. Still, “Andy” continues its journey, participating on 6 festivals just in April and May, where screening on Cannes Film Awards stands out, together with Columbus International Film + Animation Festival, Lonely Wolf Film Festival, (London), AV Film Fest Petaluma Film Fest 2023 and Seattle International Film Festival.

And FYI – tickets for June events are booked months ago!

This production was a collaboration between Ignite Studios, responsible for the character design and animation, and Craters Studio, which was in charge for look development, lighting, grooming, dynamics and compositing. It gathered more than 70 artists from US, Canada, Germany and Serbia. About 12 animators, 10 modelers, a couple of riggers and texture artists worked together in order to create this short film with a heartwarming message.

“Andy”, directed by Jamy Wheless of Ignite Animation, is an uplifting story of how one puppy overcomes a series of obstacles to find his purpose in life and become a service dog. It is a compelling story told with no narration, concentrated on the visuals that stand on their own, letting the music carry us through the story. 

This project was supported by the Government of the Republic of Serbia through the Incentive Program, which is 25% return on qualified spends for animation projects.

Watch the trailer HERE.

November 14, 2022

September 23/24 brought the hybrid format of the favourite industry gathering uniting film, gaming and digital art professionals in new mission to bring the audiovisual industry closer to Remodeling the Future. As the borders between industries get erased and convergence of technology and storytelling started to shape new screen talents and the rich conference program aimed at all levels of present and future professionals in shaping their ideas for the projects to come. CGA was originally designed as a place where industry professionals of all levels meet, grow and create together, and this year we remodeled the tools of trade to empower new voices and storytellers.

The sixth edition of CGA Belgrade kicked off on September 23 with curated online sessions for worldwide audience accessible through the conference website. In order to practice what we preach the online day was broadcasted from digital environments created through Virtual Environments Lab. Over the summer, environments were created in Unreal Engine 5 by new industry talents guided by industry experts and Crater Training Center.

Second day offered long awaited in person gathering, this time hosted in new venue, mts Dvorana (Trg Nikole Pašića 5) on September 24, 2022, with three auditoriums following existing content tracks CGArts, CGAcademy and CGAlliance. The mainstage featured talks from vfx supervisor Victor Perez, head of development at Piranha Bar Nicky Gogan, discussing transformation and global positioning of smaller markets, as well as neverending novelty in the use of software tools at different scale and creative purpose.

In addition several exclusive workshops and master classes were hosted in Crater Training Center.

September 23rd: Ergon Tomskiy: Camera composition masterclass

September 23rd: Houdini User Group Serbia by SideFX

September 25th: Victor Perez – Digital Compositing Masterclass

Almost all sessions delivered at the conference this year are ready for replay on CGA Belgrade YouTube channel. To enjoy the sessions you’ve maybe missed at the conference, check out the official CGA 2022 playlist on the the LINK. The playlist includes most sessions delivered both in-person and during the conference’s virtual event.

Conference programme enjoyed a longstanding partnerships and sponsor support of 3Lateral/Epic Games, Autodesk, PMO, Mad Head Games, Playstudios Europe, Crater Studio, Side FX, Foundry, Chaos Group and DAT. We are especially proud of our new community partners Elder, Atomic Visual and Ovation BBDO that work with us in bringing the seamless digital experience to our audience. CGA Belgrade 2022 was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, Irish Embassy and is taking part in the supercluster initiative Creative Tech Serbia.

June 2, 2022

CGA 2022 has launched call for applicants for Virtual Environments Lab. Specially designed educational program explores different aspects of creating environments for different digital sets and serves as one of a kind playground for anyone interested in virtual production and game engines. The program is focused on the Unreal Engine 5 workflow and presents a two-month prep process for the forthcoming edition of CGA Conference. Experienced industry tutors, guest lectures and mentors will lead team of 12 participants supervised by Crater Training Center. 

The sixth edition of CGA Belgrade is expected to happen in late September 2022, and lab results will creatively contribute the conference production. Participants will be working on simulating a level in a video game, film set and a TV broadcast studio.

CGA’s educational program on creating virtual environments will be held live in Crater Training Center from July 1 to August 27, 2022. This will be an opportunity to expand the knowledge of 3D with extensive introduction of Unreal Engine. Participation in the program includes mandatory lectures, masterclasses, and production tests. Participants will be able to see how their creations interact with the actors and cameras in the production process.

If you are 3D modeler, architect or production designer interested to enroll in this unique educational experience, call for applicants is open until June 13^th.

Participation is free of charge and classes will be held in Serbian.

Read more HERE and look forward to your application.

January 31, 2022

The continuous efforts in bringing new locations to the camera spotlight and expanding Film Friendly practices around the country have reached a new milestone with Serbia Film Commission joining the list of business partners of the Location Managers Guild International. At the same time location manager Stefan Todorović becomes the first associate member of the LMGI from the Balkans. His credits include two seasons of CW’s series The Outpost, Legendary’s upcoming The Machine and this year Sundance contender You won’t be alone alongside dozens of advertising projects shot all over Serbia. Stefan forged his location managers career on one of the most demanding scenes shot in Belgrade for the opening of the season four of CBS’s Seal Team.

SFC has been providing training for location managers and worked towards improving the conduct around public and private locations used by film productions. The latest result to that aim has been the introduction of the standardized location agreement that has become a recommended tool for all new and existing location owners and production companies. The collaboration with LMGI and its members will further enhance location practices and solidify role of the location managers in the booming Serbian film market.

“With over 4000 shooting days per year and increasing number of domestic productions the need for recognition of location professionals and code of conduct has become of paramount importance and we hope that with this milestone Serbia and capital Belgrade will continue to grow their international reputation among most desirable filming destinations in Europe.“ – says Milica Božanić, Executive Director of Serbia Film Commission.

The participation in the international guilds and promotion of film professionals internationally is essential to the vision of SFC and more news like this one are to be expected.

January 25, 2022

Serbia’s reputation for sci-fi and fantasy is expanding with the new series The Ark. Devlin is writing the series, with him and Jonathan Glassner serving as co-showrunners and executive producers. The pair also worked together on the fantasy series “The Outpost” as executive producers. The show become a staple project for Serbian locations, onboarding local cast and creative team to deliver three seasons.

The series is set to shoot entirely in Serbia and takes place 100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race. The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life. With more than a year left to go before reaching their target planet, a lack of life-sustaining supplies and loss of leadership, the remaining crew must become the best versions of themselves to stay on course and survive.

Devlin executive produces via Electric Entertainment along with Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan-Wilson. Jonathan English of Balkanic Media will be in charge of production in Serbia scheduled to begin in March at PFI Studios. Syfy has confirmed the order of first season with 12 episodes.

“We are delighted by the announcement which continues the production partnership between Electric Entertainment and Balkanic Media. The Ark will be the first Sci-Fi show to be produced in Serbia and it’s fantastic recognition for all the Serbian filmmakers and facilities, who will be part of this exciting new production. We are also thrilled to be bringing this new show to PFI Studios which has been home to The Outpost series and many of our other productions.” said Jonathan English of Balkanic Media.

After most recent Leverage: Redemption, The Ark will be fifth project completed in Serbia in partnership with Balkanic Media.

December 23, 2021

After a series of Indian box office hits returning each year to locations in Serbia, Clockwork Film Production has brought one of the most dynamic VOD platforms AltBalaji to shoot two of their  upcoming TV series in Serbia.  

In March, Clockwork Films shot 24 days of “APRAHARN 2″ produced by famous Bollywood producer Tanvir Bookwala and “Ding Entertainment Pvt Ltd”. The acclaimed director Santosh Sing, along with very talented DOP Anubhav Bansal and Bollywood stars Arunoday Singh, Sukhmani Sadana, Snehil Mehra supported by more than 250 Serbian film crew members are behind the creation of this very action packed comedy-thriller. The story follows an ex-cop Rudra, being blackmailed by an undercover criminal gang in his high-stake battle for justice. Serbian actors Miona Marković, Jakov Jeftović and Ivan Jeftović made a brief and spicy appearance, trained for stunt scenes by the European stunt champions Serbian Stuntman Agency Team. “Apharan 2″ used the backdrop of Belgrade city center, Smederevo fortress, KPGT, the Museum of Aeronautics among other popular locations.

The producers came back in early October to start the pre-production of series “COLD MESS”. The executive producer of Cold mess, Ekta Kapoor, managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, visited the shoot. This very millennials-oriented series follows the intimacy and nature of today’s relationships between 2 young characters, Karan and Liz, with often comic misunderstandings. Directed by Prashant Bhagia the series features Barun Sobti and Ridhi Dogra, while Serbian cast included Srdjan Karanović, Djordje Kadijević, Tara Milutinović. Very talented Vladimir Ilic was the DOP on this project shot in Serbia during three weeks on locations  of Royal Palace, Madlenianum Opera and Theatre, Karadjordjeva street, emblematic Geca Kon bookstore in central pedestrian zone of Knez Mihailova street, and many other private properties.

Both projects have been supported by the Serbian Government in Incentive program, Ministry of Culture and Belgrade City authorities, JKP Smedervska Tvrdjava and many other institutions who reconfirmed Serbian film friendly and pro-active approach.

Apart from the two TV series Clockwork serviced a documentary How I Got Here for Discovery Channel Canada and large web commercial, engaging more than 800 Serbian film crew members, actors and extras to work across different projects. Three more action features are in pre-production set to be shot in the first half of 2022.

December 22, 2021

Supernatural horror thriller You Won’t Be Alone enters main competition at Sundance Film Festival with be world premiere announced for January 28, 2022 by official distributor Focus Features.  Directed and written by Goran Stolevski, Australian director born in Macedonia, the story sets in isolated mountain village in 1800s. The film stars an ensemble of European actors led by Noomi Rapace, BAFTA winner Anamaria Marinca and European Shooting Star Sara Klimoska (Milcho Manchevski’s Willow). Serbian actors Dobrila Stojnić, Đorđe Mišina and Đorđe Živadinović Grgur join the cast in supporting roles.

Producers of acclaimed Australian titles such as The Babadook and The Nightingale Kristina Ceyton and Sam Jennings (Cargo) joined forces with Jonathan English and Nataša Ivić on behalf of Serbian Balkanic Media to produce the feature entirely on pristine locations of Pokrevenik village and Stara Planina/Old Mountain.

The project scouted and taken into consideration over 100 villages across Serbia until the final location in Stara Planina was locked. Location manager Stefan Todorovic handled the locations that required house and stables repairs and road access. Over the period of 5 months entire production team made Stara Planina their home base shooting around mountain rivers and waterfall Tupavica. The support of the local villagers and administration demonstrated a case study of how film productions can improve infrastructure and make economic impact to rural areas. Stara Planina has been making its way as one of the favorite film locations with always new and refreshing corners to be discovered on camera.

Jonathan English of Balkanic Media comments, “Pokrevenik is a unique and exceptional place, with many old preserved homes and beautiful nature. We were exceptionally lucky to work with the president of the village, Mr Kostadinović and the families who live in Pokrevenik, who were incredibly welcoming and supportive of the film. As disruptive as any production can be, our goal was always to try and take an ecological approach and make the film with as light a foot-print as possible”.

The team behind camera had given opportunity for debut of fresh creative forces in art department with some 150 members of production guided by production company Balkanic Media, with Art Director Jovana Mihajlović, Set Decorator Mina Burić, Costume Designer Slađana Perić-Santrač.

The film was attracted to shooting in Serbia thanks to the incentives program of The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Government of Serbia that was successfully received as instrumental part of the financing.

Official trailer

December 7, 2021

CGAccelerator is new project run and designed by Serbia Film Commission to boost the skills in business and marketing of individuals leading creative businesses and studios. Creative industries are people’s business and therefore improving the understanding of business strategies on top of your creative work will enhance the ability to reach better clients and projects. CGAccelerator is initiated in partnership with Revthink and builds on the experiese of Tim Thompson and Joel Pilger who will personally lead you through an 8-week transformation.

This is an industry-specific programme focused on Serbian creative companies and studios providing services in design, motion graphics, visual effects, animation, creative production and sound design. If you are running a project based business with clients in film, TV, advertising, gaming or any other media subsector we want to learn more about your company portfolio and challenges that could be supported through this acceleration programme.

CGAccelerator is designed for companies that have strong motivation for growth in both turnover and creative quality of projects. It does not matter if you are operating in Serbian market only or already have an established international presence. The accelerator program will help you further carve your business skill set in positioning, marketing, leadership of creative teams and sales to take your business to the next level.

The accelerator programme will be fully executed online and in English. There is no application nor participation cost for selected beneficiaries.

Important dates:

• Deadline for application – January 25th, 2022 APPLY HERE
• Selection and notification to applicants – February 14th, 2022
• Start of the accelerator – February 28th, 2022 

We strongly encourage participants of 35 and younger, small studios based outside of Belgrade and female led businesses to take this opportunity and apply for the programme.

Complete information regarding CGAccelerator programme is HERE.

The CGAccelerator is enabled thanks to the financial assistance from the US Embassy in Serbia. 

November 9, 2021

CGA Belgrade is celebrating its 5th year of advancing the VFX, gaming, VR and digital arts community with this year’s theme – Embracing Metaversity, a university about the metaverse and a playground for creative minds and digital natives. We warmly invite you to  join your CG tribe for a two-day digital event on November 18th – 19th 2021. 

The conference will follow three content streamlines: artistic CGArts, educational CGAcademy, and for the first time, the content track called CGAlliance dedicated to those eager to hone their entrepreneurship skills in the world of computer graphics.

While CGArts programme track will feature some outstanding visual works, it will also take an insight into the change for creatives that NFT, virtual production and machine learning has brought. CGAcademy, curated by Crater Training Center, will offer new sessions presenting academic papers and a deep dive into metahuman technology.

For Registration and CGA Belgrade conference programme click HERE. 

We believe in investing in business skills to positively change the creative ecosystem and are proud to announce the CGAlliance programme that will feature talks and workshops on tools designed to support growth of creative companies in VFX, gaming, sound, design and audiovisual production. 

The highlight of the programme track will be the presentation “Stand out in the Sea of Sameness” from revolutionary thinkers Tim Thompson and Joel Pilger. If you dream of someday standing out and being respected as an expert in your creative domain, RevThink consultants will host a special workshop on November 20th and 21st teaching you how to properly — and successfully — position your creative business.

To register for the “Stand out in the sea of Sameness” 2 day workshop follow the link HERE.

The Workshop is designed for aspiring change-makers with practical, helpful, and realistic approaches to assist Serbian creative businesses in computer graphics and audiovisual production to accelerate their potential. The programme is made possible with the assistance of the US Embassy in Serbia.

May 27, 2021 

Brand new post-production facility 247HUB, located in Belgrade downtown opened its doors to high-end audio-visual projects end of 2020. This one-stop-shop offers services for all types of creative content and is already fully booked with incoming international projects as well as booming Serbian film industry.

The main feature of the 247HUB is color grading theatre powered by BaseLight with 4K Sony laser projector, Sony reference monitor, Stewart reference screen and Dolby 7.1.  Another smaller grading suite is equally powered by FilmLight and Sony. FilmLight Flux storage and rendering capacities are supported through Cisco network, up to 100GB/s, enabling high security and quick transfer of data.247HUB is in the final assessment phase of getting TPN certificate with goal of becoming a reference post production facility for Southeast Europe.

In addition to state-of-the-art technology platform, you will find a friendly team of highly skilled professionals led by senior colorists Miodrag Popović and Goran Todorić, who are also co-founders. 247HUB leads projects from initial idea to final delivery and their services extend beyond the studio lot in providing technical support for a variety of external processes including DIT. 

“Our hub represents a fusion of talent, experience and passion. We offer a complete package of services required to produce your high-quality audio-visual work. We believe that authors should be given the opportunity to express their creativity to the full extent and we strive to help them achieve their goal. We have one goal: to offer our clients world class post-production environment. Currently we are working on two major international projects – one being TV series and other a feature film”, says Nemanja Stanojević, coordinator of the hub.

247HUB has an ambition to not only provide commercial services, but also develop the talent pool and work with young artists in achieving uncompromising technical results. Partnership with Filmlight and their experts will guide establishment of the training programs for artists in color grading,which will permanently empower Serbian production capacities.

To experience VR Tour through 247HUB go on link.