The right to air the Croatian drama TV series Rest in Peace, developed within the National Program for the Development of the Audiovisual Industry, was purchased by the Belgian public television for the Flemish-speaking area - Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroeporganisatie - VRT (Flemish Radio and Television), a member of the EBU. This is the first television series, the development of which was financed by Croatian Audiovisual Centre, to be shown by a broadcaster in Western Europe.
The producer and creator, Dario Vince, told us that the series has so far been purchased for showing on two televisions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. 'We believe that despite the difficult financial situation of public television in Serbia and Slovenia, it should sooner or later appear there as well. The placement of the series in Belgium could help us, and others who are trying to develop ambitious drama projects here, to draw the attention of the wider world market. We are also helped by our Swedish distributors, who were the first to recognize the potential of the series and believe that it should be offered to a wider market. Of course, the "pitching" behind a serious western distribution company looks more serious than when a small producer from a country that does not yet exist on the international TV content market does so.'
Dario Vince adds that he set the basic story of the second season and that he developed the script together with Saša Podgorelec and Ivan Turković Krnjak. 'In the very end, the director of the second season, Goran Dukić, joined us. HAVC recognized the potential and seriousness of the project and helped us in its development, primarily with public support and funding. It is a great pity that there is still not enough synchronicity with TV companies that would enable the time planning of TV projects because HAVC wanted, and I am convinced it could help even more. It is of great importance that the system of script development and project development that HAVC managed to impose on cinematography begins to spread to television projects because from the professional, artistic, and business side, it's simply a necessity for smart project management. I sincerely hope that HAVC will soon announce a competition for TV projects again, so that we may have the opportunity to realize the full potential of such cooperation in the third season', Vince concluded.
By the way, this series, whose production was financed by HRT, will not be synchronized, but titled, so that Belgian viewers will hear Croatian actors in Croatian. As for the future life of the series, the wish of the author of the series and Ring Production is to complete the planned trilogy in partnership with HRT, and shoot the final ten episodes of the last, third season of the series.