Selling the rights to air The Paper, whose first season was broadcast on Croatian Radio Television (HRT) in 2016, and whose second season is currently being filmed, is the result of months of negotiations with the largest global television network for TV series and films. The news was announced at a joint news conference which included representatives from HRT as well as producers Nebojša Taraba and Miodrag Sila, director Dalibor Matanić and writer Ivica Đikić from Drugi Plan. 

‘The success of The Paper is most evident in the fact that Netflix has already bought the rights to the second season, which is still in production and is expected to air in September of this year. This is the first drama series in a Slavic language sold to Netflix. We’re in global distribution, ahead Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic. There is a very exclusive number of countries that can fulfil their criteria, only seven of them, which, along with the USA, have their drama series productions on Netflix. This shows that Croatia now has earned a place at the global top,’ said Nebojša Taraba from Drugi Plan, adding that this is a huge success for the Croatian audiovisual industry.

‘It’s great that we are not only importers, and that as such a small country we are stepping through the gates of global drama series production. I wanted to make The Paper in a way that was unique and that, in a directorial sense, does not rely on anything, but at the same time is universal, which obviously paid off. I am half-way through shooting the second season. There are new characters and the plot revolves around two presidential candidates, making it more dynamic,’ said director Dalibor Matanić.

The drama series The Paper lightly touches on relationships between members of the editing staff of a daily newspaper in the middle of changing ownership, and focuses more on bigger problems such as crime, betrayal, the loss of human decency under the pressures of vanity, adaption and existential fears. It all happens within the tense surroundings catering to the interests of corrupt agencies, big capital and politics, where tycoons and politicians will stop at nothing in the fight for power and rule, while journalists and their editors are both accessories and participants in actual events. The second season, expected to air on HRT this fall, focuses on presidential candidate Ludvig Tomašević, played by Dragan Despot, and his unscrupulous, almost diabolical battle for power, stopping at nothing, not even ordering hits on others, which is how the first season ended.

Cover photos: scenes from The Paper