United Media, the leading media company in Southeast Europe together with Nova TV, hosted a semi-final round of judging for the International Emmy® Awards.

It is for the third consecutive year that United Media, part of the leading telecommunication and media company United Group, is hosting the prestigious event. The event took place alongside with the Pula Film Festival, paying tribute to Croatia’s strength in domestic and international tv productions.

Nova TV and United Media gathered numerous professionals from the world of television, production and the creative industry. The members of this year’s jury were Agapi Kefalogianni, operation manager of Novacinema Channels within Nova in Greece, Zrinka Jankov, editor-in-chief of Nova TV, as well as actors in numerous television and film hits: Momčilo Otašević, Slavko Sobin, Almir Kurt and Ivana Roščić. Actors’ performances were also evaluated by experienced well-known directors Daniel Kušan and Josip Žuvan, producer Ivana Vasilina, screenwriter, producer and actress Nikki Bohm. The director of sales of original content and co-production of United Media Tatjana Pavlović, also a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, joined the jury for the semi-final evaluation of the Best Performance by an Actor category.

The finalists in all 16 categories will be selected in September and the winners of the 52nd International Emmy® Award will be announced on November 25^th in New York City.

The semi-final judging round was followed by an unforgettable star-studded night to remember hosted by television presenter and Nova TV star Mia Kovačić.

Nova TV and United Media invited for the En Blanc gala party at the Pula Castle ‘’Kaštel’, where professionals from the world of television and the creative industry, representatives of the City of Pula and the Pula Films Festival celebrated. An event, that once again confirmed Croatia’s excellent standing as a destination for national and international tv productions.

Victoriya Boklag, CEO of United Group and member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: “United Group is proud to be part of the creative community and celebrate tonight the outstanding achievements in tv production. Our media arm United Media has produced over 40 series that strongly resonate with our audience and beyond. Our productions have been adapted and sold in more than 60 countries around the world shows that the pursuit for high-quality writing and storytelling is what makes this content be relevant. We will continue working with the best in the creative industry to keep on inspiring.”

Aleksandra Subotić, CEO of United Media: ‘’Southeast Europe has become an important creative hub to tell engaging stories. We at United Media produce more than 40 thousand hours of original content per year brought to a market of 40 million people on over 50 television channels. We became a preferred partner for tv productions in the region and we will continue to invest in local quality content.”

Nathaniel Brendel, director of Emmy® judging at the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: “Thank you to our host Viktoriya Boklag and her wonderful team for organizing once again a Semi-Final Judging event, this time in the beautiful city of Pula. These judging events are an integral part of the International Emmy® Awards competition.”

United Media is convinced that promoting young talent is an important part of sustainable work in the creative industry. The company is actively fostering the development of emerging talent in the region. Winners of specialized writing competitions benefit from mentorship programs alongside seasoned colleagues.

One such initiative is the ‘Make the Scene!’ program, organized by United Media and Pula Film Festival. The mentor of the script development workshops, renowned Greek screenwriter Nikos Panayotopoulos, as well as esteemed members of the jury for this competition – Goran Bogdan, Nataša Buljan, and Mišo Mogorović, were also present at the gala event in Pula. The talent with the best TV series script receives a EUR 10,000 award and can further develop the project together with United Media.