HBO Europe has greenlit its first original series from the “Adria” region (encompassing Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia and Montenegro), a multi-layered, six-part drama set in contemporary Zagreb, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Danis Tanović.

Created and written by Marjan Alčevski, Success was selected as one of the winning projects during HBO Adria's First Draft contest, launched in August 2016 at the Sarajevo Film Festival as part of the CineLink Drama programme, inviting submissions of drama projects set in the region. 

Success follows the intertwining stories of four strangers who are bound together irrevocably by a violent event. As the consequences of their actions threaten to catch up with them, these four ordinary people from diverse backgrounds decide to regain control of their lives. A bitter ode to the city of Zagreb, Success dissects the layers of a modern urban society, exploring themes of frustration, alienation and the longing to be released from the trappings of everyday life.

This is the first drama series that Tanović has made for television. The Bosnian filmmaker won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for No Man's Land [+lire aussi :
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interview : Danis Tanovic
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interview : Danis Tanović
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The HBO Europe producers are Ana Balentović (HBO Adria) and Johnathan Young (HBO Europe). The 6x60-minute series will be staged by Zagreb-based production company Drugi Plan.

“Success is a beautifully written drama that scratches beneath the surface of contemporary urban life, with a gripping story that unravels layer by layer,” says Antony Root, executive vice-president of Programming and Production at HBO Europe. “We’re thrilled to have uncovered a brilliant young writer in Marjan and to be welcoming Danis to HBO Europe for his first television series – and to our first original drama from the Adria region.”

Tanović says: “For a long time, I've been getting offers to make series which I think, at the moment, are more interesting and inventive than the movies, but none of them have intrigued me so far. Marjan Alčevski's script is amazingly written, and I'm really happy that HBO has recognised its quality and given me the opportunity to collaborate on it.”