HBO Europe Picks Two Projects from Adria First Draft Contest

HBO Europe is moving forward with its original drama strategy in the Adria region, having chosen two projects from local writers to develop further following its First Draft Contest.

The contest marked HBO Europe’s first step toward producing original series in the region. Two projects were selected from more than 500 entries across the region. From Croatia, Marjan Alčevski’s Uspjeh is a character-driven drama about a group of disparate people linked by a violent crime. Serbian writer Ivan Knežević’s Otok is a contemporary investigative thriller, exploring the challenges faced by a region that stands at the crossroads of modern Europe.

The move into original drama in the Adria region follows HBO Europe’s success with local production in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, and the company’s recent expansion into local original programming in Scandinavia and Spain.

Steve Matthews, the VP and executive producer for drama development at HBO Europe, said: “At HBO Europe we aim to work with local talent and develop quality series that resonate with local audiences. The First Draft Contest was launched to discover writers and stories across the Adria region and we’ve been really impressed with the quality of the submissions—so much so that we’ve selected two projects for further development rather than one as we initially planned. Both Uspjeh and Otok embodied the criteria, with authentic and passionate storytelling at their heart, and we’re looking forward to working closely with talented writers Marjan Alčevski and Ivan Knežević to develop them further.”

Marin Kariž, the country manager of HBO Adria, added: “We are very excited our First Draft Contest has been received with such high interest across the region, and I would like to thank all participants for their submissions and interest in working with HBO. Uspjeh and Otok stood out with the quality of the storytelling and the unique author’s voice in reflecting the region and society as a whole, and so have entirely fulfilled the contest requirements. We are looking forward to collaborating with them both on the further development of their projects.”