In a few months, the restrictions on the privatization contract of the Boyana Cinema Center will expire - the place where some of the most significant Bulgarian films have been created for decades and where dozens of international productions have been filmed. According to people from the film business, the studio is facing the biggest challenge in its history - the danger of being sold not as an operating film complex, but as an appetizing construction site. What are the signals that are reaching from international film circles, why foreign investors would have difficulty buying the studio as a working business… Film producer Gabriel Georgiev spoke to FACTI about these topics.
- Mr. Georgiev, you are still warning that after the expiration of the restrictions under the privatization contract in November, the “Boyana“ cinema center could be sold off. Do you have specific information that such a scenario is real?
- Such information has reached me from various sources. I cannot say that it is official information, but over the past two years, since I began to investigate the possibilities of such a development with the fate of the cinema center, I have been talking mostly to people from abroad who sought me out as a person who is active in our market to confirm the information. This was back in 2024. Partners abroad with whom we work were the first to reach information that the “Boyana“ cinema center was announced for sale outside Bulgaria. I assume that this was planned - to promote this sale outside Bulgaria, because here, as you can see to this day, this is a painful topic. The shameful conditions of privatization and especially the fate of cinema center.
After abroad, information about the sale also came from our circles. It has become an open secret that the cinema center is being sold and that the price asked by the owners is well above the market price.
- What is the price that reached you?
- What has reached me is the amount of 180 million euros.
- As the MP from “Vazrazhdane“ Dimo Drenchev shared the same thing with FACT?
- People in the industry know. Many colleagues who are actively involved in making movies and who use the services of the cinema center, and these are a large part of the people, know that it is being sold and that the price being asked is this.
- The privatization contract ends in November and there is almost no time left. What do you expect to happen?
- Faith My belief that something could change made me be active in seeking answers and, above all, in posing the question so that we could speak publicly and find a good solution, and there is only one - preserving the cinema center.
My pessimistic expectations are actually that another interest that has existed in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian industry in recent years will prevail - to buy the land, demolish the buildings, sell off the assets and build new residential areas. Somehow I do not allow this pessimism to take precedence over actions and darken my vision for the future of Bulgarian cinema.
- I will take you back to the previous question a little. When we say that there was a specific amount for the sale of the cinema center, are we talking about its sale as such, so that it remains a cinema center, or as a purely real estate deal, because this is a very large and beautiful plot of land in Sofia?
- To answer to the question, I would share my professional observations and reflections. As far as I know, in 2025 negotiations were held between the current owners and an American studio that owns and manages two film studios. One is in Greece, the other is in the USA, for the purchase of the business.
As far as I know, such a deal has not been reached. What are the reasons, I cannot say. I can assume that the reason for the deal not to happen is because of the price and parameters of the possible deal. We are talking about a foreign investor - an American company with a well-established presence in two current markets. The state of New York as a state is well positioned at the moment, there is a large volume of investments in the film industry there. Greece, thanks to the tax incentive, is also developing well. That is, they most likely had the resources to pay the price, but this ultimately did not lead to the implementation of a deal.
If you analyze the business as a business, it has parameters and specialists can say what its exact valuation is. But certainly it is currently much lower, given the decreased work of the studio in recent years, which is not even at the average European level. The business of the Boyana cinema center as a whole looks quite small.
- So, am I to understand that the valuation of the business is much lower than the value of the land on which the studio is built?
- Yes, I think that the land is much more expensive than the business. This is my observation. Therefore, if an investor from abroad comes to purchase it as a business, he will actually look at the opportunities that are given to him. This is the logic.
From this point of view, I rather do not expect that a foreign investor will come who would offer something different.
In Bulgaria, the people with the businesses and the people with expertise in managing film studios are perhaps one or two people. So the probability of them showing interest and purchasing this studio as a business, I would rather say, is also quite small.
Writing away these options for an investor, I rather assume that in combination with what I told you, plus the privatizer's wishes to receive an above-market price, the only option left for me is to sell it as a plot for new construction.
- Is it enough for the Ministry of Culture to express concern, or is a specific national strategy for the preservation and development of the film infrastructure in Bulgaria already necessary? Do you expect any action from the Ministry of Culture at all?
- A few days ago I attended a meeting at the Ministry of Culture, where I expected to hear something in this direction – a clear strategy for development and especially for the development of the infrastructure. I cannot say at the moment what the will of the Ministry of Culture is – whether it advocates the upgrading of a cinema infrastructure and its modernization, or would it rather allow its destruction and focus on something different, which is not related to the industry, but rather on optimizing state aid. I cannot say this because the ministry does not have a clear position on the subject.
What are my expectations, however? Yes, I really expect the Ministry of Culture as the principal and co-owner of the studio to build a working strategy that includes the development and modernization of the infrastructure, because for the last 30 years the infrastructure in film production has only been destroyed and its production capacity has decreased. Not only in Boyana. The Ministry also provided information about other properties from the film production infrastructure that were state property and which were allowed to be looted. That is what I expect. It is vital for the industry to adopt a strategy for the development of Bulgarian cinema, which includes increasing and modernizing production capacity.
Because our future as an industry is related to our being able to achieve volumes through which we become better as producers or as creators. I make the distinction that there are two points of view in cinema. One is cinema as an industry, the other is cinema as an author's product, which in itself does not exclude the presence of adequate infrastructure. Because both creators and producers ultimately have to use the infrastructure to produce this cinema. So in both cases, the need for a strategy for the development of cinema, which also includes the modernization of the infrastructure, is valid.
- What credit does the “Boyana“ Cinema Center have for the latest Bulgarian films that have been created? How does the studio participate in the production of Bulgarian productions? We know that many international productions come here to film, which is also good because Bulgarian artists are also involved, but how does it relate to the Bulgarian film business?
- What is produced in Bulgaria as foreign productions are minority co-productions, in which a Bulgarian producer has a creative and partial financial participation. These productions are important because they assume the participation of Bulgarian artists.
In the majority of productions that come from abroad to film in Bulgaria, cheaper conditions for their production are actually sought. Or, to put it another way, they come to produce on demand.
- So, does cheapness attract foreign investors to Bulgaria when we talk about cinema?
- This is my observation at the moment, and my expectation for the future of Bulgarian cinema is different. I believe that we have the potential to be full participants in international co-productions, in which we give our creative and production contribution on an equal footing with other partners. Unfortunately, the practice is for us to be minority partners in international co-productions with an extremely limited contribution.
In the second type of foreign productions, which come only to film in Bulgaria, there is no added value. There, the participation of Bulgarian artists is even more limited. There are no directors, no operators, no artists to participate. In recent years, mainly commercials have been filmed in Bulgaria. The production of foreign cinema, even of commercials, has decreased enormously, and this is largely the responsibility of the current management of the studio. Because ultimately, they are the largest enterprise in the sector and they should determine the policy for the production of even commercials, of foreign productions in Bulgaria. An advertisement that is produced here has an economic effect that is within the framework of the accounting year, and does not bring anything more. A film has a much longer life and brings income, as well as great cultural value.
My observation is that the volume of film and television productions is decreasing at the expense of commercials, and this is becoming the main part of the film business in Bulgaria.
- And how are our neighbors doing when we talk about cinema? Because Hungary is often given as an example - what has it done in terms of investments and cinema, what is being made there. How are things around us? For example, North Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Greece?
- In the countries around us, where there is a strategy that is sustainable and is followed without sharp turns, the environment is successful. Because you asked me about North Macedonia. North Macedonia is a very small market, much smaller than ours, where there are also financial incentives, but there is no infrastructure. North Macedonia has a huge problem due to the lack of infrastructure. I was alone on inspections in North Macedonia for production and what turned us off is that there is not a single film studio there. There is no infrastructure that would support the production of a professional film production.
Hungary is truly a leader in the region. Because they have a very sustainable, consistently implemented film production strategy. The state also has a very clear strategy for their infrastructure when it comes to cinema. They have not destroyed the state-owned studios. The opposite - the state-owned studios have remained state-owned. They have two out of a total of seven that have been modernized, reorganized, but not demolished. The last modernization was last year at the state film studio “NFI Studios“. The Hungarians are attracting large-scale foreign productions. They have a very well-functioning financial incentive. They have a very well-functioning administration. So they are a truly exceptional example in the region.
The others that are doing exceptionally well are the Poles. They also have an incredible infrastructure, as well as the state film studio “WFDiF“. The examples that are not developing well, such as North Macedonia, are those that have no infrastructure.
- So we are moving strongly towards the style of North Macedonia if we destroy our cinema infrastructure?
- That's right. We are moving towards the style of North Macedonia, so that we have to look for studios outside Bulgaria to shoot our films, which would ultimately be disastrous for our industry.