I wish to begin by asking you about the history of Boyana Film. How did the company begin?
The first Bulgarian movie was shot in 1910. The development of the Bulgarian film industry started before the Second World War with the production of feature films and documentaries. Unfortunately, at the end of WWII, with the penetration of the Russian forces in Bulgaria, part of this development was stopped. A great part of the movies were just destroyed - they were considered as bourgeois propaganda. After this a new development of the film industry in Bulgaria began. This new start slowed down development process. The building of this center started in 1953 and the constructions finished in 1961. In the period of the 60s - 80s Boyana Film shot 20 films per year, approximately 50 animation films, and 20-25 feature films ordered by the National TV. 2500 persons worked at the Kinocenter during that time.
With the recent crises in Bulgaria the subsidies provided from the state were decreased. In the last 10 years between 2 and 4 movies are produced in a year. Since 1991 Boyana Film became just a technical base with all the equipment and premises, and all the people from the creative crews ended up in the labor market. The institution of the independent producers was established. This was a reform desired by all filmmakers - to be able and to be free to make their own projects and to implement them by themselves and to use Boyana only for the premises. But this reform from the last years never came to an end. The expectations that the production would increase completely failed, because the state was not giving enough subsidies.
What is the structure of the company?
Up to 1995 there used to be 3 independent companies - a Film making company for feature films, a Film making company for cartoons, and a film laboratory. In 1995 they were united in one company in Boyana Film. Since 1995 it became a trade company, which is 100% state owned, which didn't receive a single cent subsidy from the state. Actually, Boyana is acting as an ordinary commercial company. It has to provide its own means of survival, to invest if there are any possibilities for investments. And all this has to be done in a situation where are produced no more than 2-3 films per year. So since 1997 when I became an Executive Director of the company, we actually succeeded in the survival within a structure that is not operating properly, with the old equipment and the old premises. We decided to take the risk and invest in renovations so that we can attract more foreign investors in Bulgaria. Gradually foreign producers started to come to Bulgaria.
How did you achieve this renovation? How did you finance it?
We managed to do the renovation by investing in new equipment on a step by step basis. In order to have equipment money is needed and to have money customers are needed and in order to have customers equipment is needed. So we started step by step to invest in new equipment, and improving the working conditions in the studios. With each production the interest towards Bulgaria grew and the money we received from each production was invested right away. We succeeded in gaining the trust of such companies as KODAK, ARRI GB, and PANTHER. We signed contracts for long-term payments of the equipment we purchased and we have become very loyal partners to all of them.
You are also distributor of ARRI and PANTHER equipment as well as KODAK film stock. Does this provide you with some financing?
It is both a source of finance and a source of trust on behalf of the customers. Our collaboration with Kodak is very useful for us. Since 1998 we have been distributors of Kodak in Bulgaria. All the producers can buy the film here and avoid the possible damages from the transportation. Up to 1996-1997 not a single meter of Kodak film was sold in Bulgaria. I am talking about that crises period between 1991 and 1996. Since 1998 the sales of Kodak film increased many times. For example in 1998 approximately 300 000 meters were sold, 1999 - 500 000 meters, 2000 - 700 000 meters.
Also Kodak invested about USD 750 000 in a modern studio. Kodak controls the quality of production in the film laboratory. All this makes us work and follow the standards of Kodak. On the other hand this provides security and trust to the clients. Compared to the past when we used to speak of Bulgaria and its competitive advantages only as good and wonderful nature and cheap labor, now we can also speak about very good equipment and standard, high quality of the technical crews, very good quality of the laboratory development and closed inter cycle of the production. For the last 4-5 years we managed to become one of the leading companies on the Balkan region and for the whole Southeast region. We provide service to many customers from Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and also many productions from Italy, Germany, France and USA.
Who are your main competitors in the region and what would you consider to be your competitive advantages?
The main competitors are two new film studios in Romania. Greece is also traditionally very attractive to foreign filmmakers. In the last years Bulgaria became attractive with one more thing - with its financial stability, the decrease of crime, the launch of the economic growth because we managed to get out of the economic crises. All these led to development of the market and productions of commercials during the development of the private TV channels. This situation of stability in the country provides trust among foreign filmmakers. In the mid 90's, when banks were falling into bankruptcy, the prices were constantly changing, no one would even dare to come. So our profession was hurt as this industry is very closely linked to economic stability.
| You have the economic stability now, the premises and the technologies, what about your prices and your labor force?
We have competitive prices compared to most European film production companies. We also try to provide the same level of quality of the equipment, but at lower prices. At the same time wages are cheaper. Due to the long tradition of filmmaking in Bulgaria we have very qualified people. And now that we have the penetration of these foreign filmmakers in Bulgaria our crews are now better qualified according to the international standards. Most of them speak English. Usually the foreign teams come here with not more than 10-15 people and all the rest of the crew are Bulgarians. Some of the most popular films were shot in Bulgaria and we are very proud to say that Bulgaria participated in them. Boyana Film was also and line producer of the Italian film The Craft of Weapons, where Bulgarian actors play the main roles. The famous Italian Ermano Olmy, who was awarded the Golden Palm for the movie The Tree of Shoes, directs the film. The movie The Craft of Weapons participated in Cannnes 2000. The scenes in the movie take place in the 15th century and all the battle scenes were shot in Bulgaria.
Among your competitive advantages you mention good prices and optimal relations with your clients but, how do you promote the studio? Are there any activities you undertake such as the production of documentaries, for example, to promote the studio?
In the beginning in 1997-1998 we were afraid to advertise, because the conditions in the Boyana center were such that we felt that people would be disappointed by our studios if they came. However, despite our poor studios at the time, our main advantage was the quality of the crews that we had and still have. After the important investments we undertook and the subsequent renovation of the premises and the equipment, and after several successful international productions, we commenced our advertising campaign. Since 1998 we have organized a Boyana booth at the Berliner Film Festival and in the last couple of years we participated with a stand in the Location Expo in Los Angeles. We also participated in the Bulgarian movie festival in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. Today we also have a web site and we are focusing our efforts to make Boyana much more attractive. We also advertise in big magazines as Movie Pictures.
You said that the company is 100% state owned. However, you are currently in the process of being privatized. How do you see the company in the future?
Boyana Film is a state company, but it does not behave exactly as a state owned company. It was announced for privatization in February 1999. So for 3 years we have been in a process of privatization, which provided a certain measure of instability. Usually when a company is in such a position the assets sharply go down, the activities decrease, and the price of the company also decreases. We invested over DEM 3.5 million in equipment and renovation, and actually doubled the price of the company. For the last 4 years the company has made profits, as each year they have doubled in comparison to the previous year. At the same time Boyana also supports the production of Bulgarian films. We are co-producers of 9 out of 11 Bulgarian movies that were produced in the last 4 years. There is also a special program that works with the students from the Film Schools and the Film University. There are special prices for those students, and special training for them. We trained more than 300 cartoon makers, because along with the development of the international feature films we have developed our international relations in terms of cartoon making. A big merit in this belongs to Mr. Zlatin Radev, who is also part of the management team of Boyana. We work together with Italian, French and U.S. companies in the field of cartoon and we see a good future in this. Regarding privatization, I would appreciate if it is carried out together with the preservation and maintenance of its activities as a film producer in the following 3 directions - feature films, animation and film laboratory; and in the same manner, to maintain the ability to assist in the production of Bulgarian movies.
Do you feel that you have a responsibility in promoting the Bulgarian culture?
Yes. I myself am a film director. In the board of the directors of Boyana is Mr. Georgi Dulgerov, who has been awarded many international prizes; Mr. Radoslav Spassov, one of the best DP, Mr. Zlatin Radev and Mr. Svetoslav Ivanov, lawyer. We all are closely attached to our work, so we also try to make a very good representation of the Bulgarian movies abroad. We are joint organizers of many international movie expos in USA and Canada. We organize seminars for training students. We organize training for scriptwriters. We invited two of the most prominent screenplay directors from Hollywood - Dara Marx and Linda Sieger, to train some Bulgarian scriptwriters. So aside from our production work we also have focused in many other directions that will lead to develop in the movie production in Bulgaria. We are also focused in presenting the Bulgarian culture to the world. The film business gives the tool to make a good representation of the country. If the foreign producers that shot their films in the country are satisfied at the end they will promote our country. The fact that movie stars are here brings the interest of the media to cover these events. We had many interesting meetings in Los Angeles with the Chairman of the U.S. Association of Film Producers. We had meetings with the Vice presidents of Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures. It is worthy presenting Bulgaria there, because our country is a peaceful and quiet place, with beautiful nature and ancient culture and long history. Whenever a foreign team comes to Bulgaria we always witness the same process. At the very beginning they are very precautious - they don't know the food, the people. After a couple of weeks they wish to come back to Bulgaria. That gives me great satisfaction and we do our best to promote the good image of Bulgaria.
This is certainly a very positive image. Would you like to add anything to our readers?
With this privatization process we would like to attract the interest of many big international filmmaking companies. We are very happy that we attracted Kodak's interest, because they have already declared their interest towards us. The hall in Los Angeles where the Oscars will be awarded is called Kodak Theatre. We are very happy to have that name connected to ours. I would also be very happy to have the names of Paramount, Dream Works, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers connected to Boyana Film.
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