Dario Vince, owner of Ring produkcija and Saša Podgorelec, the main screenwriter of the series "Rest in Peace" bought by Lionsgate, reveal how it was created and what awaits us in the second season.

The original script, excellent cast, high production level, creative directors, screenwriters, DOP, and the rest of the team that created the series "Rest in Peace" are responsible for the worldwide success of this drama series bought by the world's leading production company Lionsgate ("Mad Men", "Weed"). Dario Vince, author of the format and owner of the production company Ring produkcija, and the main screenwriter of the series Saša Podgorelec revealed how a series about a journalist and a retired prison guard who reveals the dark secrets of people buried in a prison cemetery was made.

- At the beginning of 2011, HRT announced a competition for drama series with an emphasis on more serious drama series. Among the many things that came into our hands was the synopsis of the series written by Koraljka Meštrović. Some things in that text I really liked but I wasn’t completely satisfied and I knew I would change it. In that story, there was only a prison guard investigating the cases of the buried, there were humorous parts, but there was no politics, no media, no female character. As Koraljka did not want to change the text, we bought the rights from her, and later I introduced changes in the story itself. My colleague Robert Tomljenović also took part in this creative part and later during the filming. Due to various turmoils on HRT, we waited until the end of 2011 for approval to be filmed, and the series began airing in January 2013 - says Dario Vince. Exploring the recent past, which is the key to our present, has become the main topic of the series and it is logical that the media, politics, intelligence services played the role in it.

- We thought that we should take some steps in cleaning up in front of our doorstep. With the story, we touched on some topics that bother and provoke certain people, but our intention was not to set theses and judgments, we looked for the roots of the problem that our whole society is facing. That is why a journalist was a more logical choice than a police officer or a detective, which is the case in Western societies. It was logical for it to be a woman because I think that in today's society, women are more valuable when it comes to the truth, and men are more valuable when it comes to lies - explains Vince.

Saša Podgorelec told us what his guiding thought was in writing the screenplay, in which screenwriters Ivor Martinić and Ivan Turković Krnjak also contributed.

- I got four already written episodes that suffered from one problem - too much noise in the channel and a lot of cluttered motifs that created confusion and everything had to be rearranged a bit so the series can "breathe" on the narrative level and give space to the characters. The basic principle I was guided by was not to impose a story on the audience but to draw them into it - says Podgorelec and reveals which episode is his favorite.

- Episode eight in which the cancer-wound of this society is themed - stolen money for the weapons during the war. He adds that the directors of the series, Goran Rukavina, who was the creator of the story with Koraljka, and Kristijan Milić did a great job, with which Vince agrees.

- Milić and Rukavina have different styles, which was a potential danger. Psychological situations suit Goran and he is an artistically gifted director because he speaks more with pictures than words, while Kristijan is a master of action and he swam like a fish in water in those scenes - says Vince.

Of course, a large part of the burden was on the backs of the main actors Miodrag Krivokapić and Judita Franković, who, Vince tells us, was originally scheduled for the lead role.

- Judita repeated many times how surprised she was when she got the role because she came to the casting unprepared, but she didn't know that while writing the main female character I saw her and her energy in Lucija. The whole project was very ambitious, from the filming locations to the extensive gallery of characters for which almost the entire domestic acting scene was engaged.

- The project was demanding, and the price is that we did not earn anything on the series. But, on the other hand, we have a project that we are not ashamed of and that has raised the standards in the market and determined the direction in which we should work - says Dario.

This was noticed by people from the Swedish company Eccho Rights, who enthusiastically offered Ring produkcija to distribute the series, which attracted a lot of attention at the Seoul Television Drama Festival, where "Rest in Peace" was included in the official competition. It was there, Vince believes, that the series caught the attention of people from Lionsgate.

- The negotiations lasted for three months, they were exhaustive and I learned a lot from them - he says.

The guys revealed to us that they’re done with six of the ten episodes of the second season in which, unlike the first season, there won’t be strict divisions to make each episode a separate story. Now they are waiting for the result of negotiations with HRT.

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