Member Article

There has been an exciting development in the entertainment industry, as the Czech company"Sebre a.s."bought a 20% stake in Serbian "Avala film" – an iconic studio hailing from the golden age of Yugoslavian film. Among other duties taken on through this acquisition, Sebre will be responsible for the formation of the studio's management board, as well as for its modernisation – something that the company's officials have already promised to do by investing over EUR 10 million over the next 3-5 years. The construction and renovation of buildings on Avala Film's lot will be realised throughHinton, a Czech construction company.

The modernisation in question has been remarked by Sebre's Chairman of the Board, Jan Fidler, as the sole salvation for the currently run-down studio. Fidler also expressed his willingness to initiate transfers of knowledge between Avala Film and other European film studios, including theBarrandov film studioin Prague. The main reason behind engaging in such an activity being the Czech company's intention to return Avala Film among the major film production centers in Europe – a place that the Serbian studio has already occupied in the past. Furthermore, a significant warranty in the context of these promises can be seen in the arrival of the new general director, Vladimir Cuba, who has previously served as Studio Barrandov's Chairman of the Board. Reports claim that this should give additional weight to Sebre's plans, especially when taking into account that the Czech studio endured quite a similar fate to the one Avala Film is currently going through, before once again returning to the top of the continent in this regard.

On a more macro level, if we were to look at reports coming from the Czech ambassador in Belgrade, it seems that this investment will echo outside of the Serbian film industry by strengthening the confidence of other Czech investors in terms of doing business in Serbia overall.