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Save the Date: Small Markets, Big Stories – a Roundtable on the Film Industry in Small European Countries at the Zagreb Film Festival

Oct 20, 2025

The Department of Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) is organising a roundtable titled “Small Markets, Big Stories – The Film Industry in Small European Countries”, which will take place as part of the Zagreb Film Festival on 11 November 2025 at the F22 Stage of the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. 

The event will bring together experts, researchers, and representatives of the audiovisual sector from Denmark and Croatia to discuss the current state, challenges, and opportunities for the development of the film industry in small European markets. 

The roundtable will present the key findings of the CresCine research conducted within the framework of the Horizon Europe (2023–2026) project, with a particular focus on comparative insights from Croatia and Denmark. Researchers, policymakers, and film professionals will discuss ways to enhance the international competitiveness of the film industry in small EU countries. 

The event is organised in partnership with the Zagreb Film Festival and the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, and is part of the ZFF Industry program, which serves as a platform for the education and networking of film professionals in the region. 

The participants of the roundtable are Jakob Isak Nielsen, Lars Bjørn Hansen, Chris Marcich, and Martina Petrović, and the event is moderated by Jaka Primorac.

You can register for the roundtable via the form.

Jakob Isak Nielsen is Associate Professor at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Aarhus University, where he also served as Head of Department from 2014 to 2019. His research focuses on film and media industry studies, media production, and audiovisual aesthetics. He has written 100+ articles within these areas. He is also the co-author of Seriality in the Streaming Era (Routledge, 2025), author of Camera Movement in Narrative Cinema (PhD, 2007) and a contributor to and co-editor of books on American drama series (Fjernsyn for viderekomne, 2011) and transnational serial phenomena in the streaming era (Streaming for viderekomne, 2020). Recent research projects include CresCine – Increasing the International Competitiveness of the European Film Industry in Small European Markets (Horizon-RIA, 2023-2026); ScreenME – Screen Media Entrepreneurship (Horizon, 2019-2023); and What Makes Danish TV Drama Series Travel? (Independent Research Fund Denmark, 2014-2018).
Lars Bjørn Hansen is a Danish film producer and experienced media executive with nearly four decades in the Nordic entertainment industry. Currently Managing Director at SF Studios Production ApS, Hansen has played a pivotal role in shaping SF Studios’ operations across Denmark and Norway, also serving as Chairman of the Board at Motion Blur (Norway) and previously as Country Manager for SF Studios Norway. Before taking the helm at SF Studios Production, Hansen held key leadership roles within SF Film and SF Studios, contributing to their strategic development and international partnerships with major studios such as Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., and MGM. His career also spans senior financial and operational roles at Netdoktor Group, TDC Cable TV (YouSee), and Nordisk Film Group, where he was instrumental in several successful turnarounds and company integrations.
Chris Marcich was appointed CEO of the Croatian Audiovisual Center on 1 May 2019. In December 2023, he was elected President of the Association of European Film Agency Directors, EFAD. He has been President of the Board of AGICOA, the international collective rights management organisation representing certain producer rights. As the head of the Centre, he represents and acts on behalf of the Centre, organises and runs the Centre’s activities together with its team of professionals. The primary mission of the Centre in the widest sense is to support and promote the Croatian film and audiovisual sector. The Centre also runs the cash rebate program known as “filming in Croatia”, is home to the Media Desk in Croatia and represents Croatia in Eurimages. Chris previously was the President of the Motion Picture Association’s European office in Brussels from 1995 to 2016. From 1985 to 1995, Chris held various policy and negotiating positions at the Office of the US Trade Representative, including Assistant USTR for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Martina Petrović holds a degree in International Relations with a minor in Psychology. She began her career at the Croatian Ministry of Culture, where she coordinated international cultural exchange and the promotion of Croatian cinema at major festivals such as Berlinale and Cannes. In 2008, she contributed to the establishment of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and was later appointed by the European Commission as Head of Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Croatia. She is the creator of Let’s Pitch Some Shorts!, an inclusive European training and co-production platform for emerging voices, and the founder of Series Rough Pitch – The Balkan Way, now a recognised regional hub for TV series development and industry matchmaking. She also initiated the first industry conference in this part of Central and Eastern Europe, celebrating 10 years of Croatia’s participation in Creative Europe MEDIA — a landmark gathering that brought together leading women from across the European AV sector. Recently appointed as a board member of the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA), Martina is the recipient of the first Albert Kapović Award (2010) for her outstanding contribution to the internationalisation of Croatian cinema. She continues to mentor emerging talent and advise European AV companies through a wide range of organisational collaborations and professional networks.
Jaka Primorac is a Scientific Advisor at the Department for Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO), Zagreb, Croatia. She holds a PhD (2010) in Sociology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her research interests intersect the fields of the sociology of culture, the sociology of media and communications and the sociology of work. Primorac has led and collaborated on a number of international and domestic research projects and currently she is the coordinator of the IRMO team on the Horizon Europe project ‘Increasing the international competitiveness of the film industry in small European markets’ (CresCine, 2023-2026), and collaborator on IRMO NextGenerationEU project ‘Interdisciplinary Research on Cultural and Media Policies and Practices: Developmental and Democratic Potentials’ (CULTMED, 2023-2027), and IRMO Croatian Science Foundation project ‘Digital Data, Infrastructures and Development’ (DEVELOPER) (2024-2027). She has been a Member of the Artistic Council of Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC, 2016-2018). Her work has been published in international and domestic scientific journals, including Cultural Trends, International Journal for Cultural Policy, and Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research (FQS). Recent titles include the book ‘From Project to Project: Work and Employment in the Cultural Sector’ (BLOK; 2021) and the edited volume ‘Digital Transformation and Cultural Policies in Europe’ (with Ole Marius Hylland, Routledge, 2024).
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