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The Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) presented itself for the first time at the American Film Market (AFM), which took place in Santa Monica, California, from 31 October to 5 November 2023. The presentation of Slovenia as a film location took place in cooperation and with the support of the Slovenian Tourist Board.
The Slovenian Film Centre carries out the activities of the Film Commission, whose aim is to continuously promote the long-term economic impact of international cooperation in the field of filmmaking through promotional events. So far, Slovenian film locations have been successfully presented at festivals and film markets in Cannes, Berlinale and London. Presenting Slovenia as a film location at major film festivals and markets has great potential to attract foreign producers as well as major film studios interested in filming here, not least thanks to the 25% cashback measure introduced in 2017 under the Public Call to encourage investment in audiovisual production. Cooperation with foreign productions has several effects on the Slovenian economy and tourism, as the majority of the costs spent during filming represent accommodation, local transport, food and hiring local crews. The final audiovisual works are in themselves a promotion of the natural beauty of the Slovenian landscape, as well as a testament to the experienced and professional Slovenian film crews that helped to create them. Regarding to prior experience, tourism is the sector that benefits most from film and other audio-visual production. High- and medium-budget films attract a crew of tens or even hundreds of people to the area for several weeks during production. All these film workers use tourist accommodation, catering services, personal and cargo transport, and other supporting service activities. In case of a specific visibility of a particular landmark or attraction in a film, this can mean a leap of a few 100 or even a 1000-fold increase in tourist visits to a particular location for an extended period.
The Slovenian Film Centre was represented at the AFM by SFC managing director Nataša Bučar and Head of Slovenian Film Commission Tina Lešničar, who directly approached potential partners and collaborators at the American Film Fair through individual meetings; American producers, studio representatives, location managers, film commission representatives and other interested parties, and connected them with active Slovenian producers and executive producers as prospective partners. Some Slovenian producers attended AFM on their own initiative as well. The promotion of Slovenian film locations has been carried out for several years in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board. Slovenia offers a wide variety of filming locations due to its idyllic and picturesque nature. Key factors that make Slovenia one of the most exclusive film locations include the well-preserved historical buildings and natural features, the accessibility of the locations, and the fact that you can film in the mountains, by the sea, in karst caves or on the plains of the Pannonian plain in a single day. That is why the slogan of the promotional campaign continues to be: »Drive less. Film more. Film in Slovenia.«
»By successfully promoting our filming locations, together with the Slovenian Tourist Board, we have managed to stimulate a lot of interest in filming in Slovenia. If we want to harness the potential of the sector and stimulate investment in the film and audiovisual world and remain competitive, we will need to allocate significantly more resources to this field. Based on the interest shown, we estimate that we would need €4 million in funding as early as 2024, which would allow us to attract as much as €16 million in foreign investment to Slovenia,« said Nataša Bučar, Director of the SFC.
In December, Slovenian Film Centre and Slovenian Film Commission will also be present at the Focus London international film market.
Source: Slovenian Film Centre
