The second season of Hotel Portofino, a British drama series created by Matt Baker and directed by Adam Wimpenny, is currently filming in Croatia.
Broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BritBox platform, the series shows the daily life of wealthy tourists staying in a luxury Italian hotel in the 1920’s. Superficially light and comic, the series’ darker side shows the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy.
Although the story-line is set in Italy, the producers chose to make the series in Croatia. For the first season, in 2021, the London-based production company Eagle Eye Drama spent 61 days in the country. This new season has scheduled 60 days, 11 of them in Zagreb, filming in places like the Croatian Institute of History and the Museum of Arts and Crafts. The rest of the filming is taking place in other cities across the country.
According to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Portofino is the largest foreign production to film in Croatia. Thanks to the state aid programme Filming in Croatia, domestic and foreign productions benefit from a 25% discount on all expenditure. Eligible expenses include the cost of goods and services, plus the salaries of local technicians. This ambitious series employs 135 film professionals and 800 local extras.
Hosting such a project is a way for Croatia to promote its varied locations as well as its film industry. With this programme, the country defines itself as “one of the world’s leading film destinations.”
Sources: HAVC, Film New Europe, Filming in Croatia
