{"id":16435,"date":"2019-03-07T16:00:39","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/investsofia.com\/en\/?p=16435"},"modified":"2019-04-15T17:22:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T14:22:33","slug":"why-sofia-with-swedish-bulgarian-atem-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investsofia.com\/en\/why-sofia-with-swedish-bulgarian-atem-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"“Why Sofia?” with Swedish-Bulgarian ATEM Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Atem Entertainment was founded in 2003 in Sweden. Established by Maria Avramova and Christer H\u00e4gglund, the company works with film, animation and illustration, it designs and produces award winning music videos and short films, as well as games and books. The team also collaborates with other artists to bring their vision to life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maria has over 14 years of experience in animation, film and advertising. She is a writer, director and creative producer at ATEM. Co-founder Christer has taken upon many roles over the years such as illustrator, 3D, 2D and stop-motion animator, editor and storyboard artist. At ATEM he is <\/span>a game developer and producer.<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0year ago <\/span>ATEM Entertainment<\/span><\/a> moved operations in Sofia. Co-founders Maria and H\u00e4gglund tell us what makes Sofia a place to further develop a successful business in the creative sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please tell us briefly about your investments in Sofia? What does your company do in Bulgaria and outside?<\/b><\/p>\n

Maria<\/em>: We founded Atem in Sweden almost 15 years ago when we started to produce animation for commercials, feature films and music videos. Today, besides consulting on other projects, we create and produce our own Intellectual Properties such as films, games, books and more. We are specialized in animated films and board games. <\/span><\/p>\n

Christer<\/em>: Atem Entertainment is an IP creating company. Space Yoghurt is our latest creation and the tv-series is partly produced in Bulgaria. We operate in Sweden, Italy, USA and Germany at the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

What motivated you to invest in Sofia?<\/b><\/p>\n

Maria<\/em>: Being a Bulgarian myself was of course a door-opener in this region. Although I moved to Sweden 24 years ago I knew that there\u2019s a lot of talent here. We found the right partners and produced the First Season of the show while I was directing from Stockholm. We clicked and that\u2019s why we decided to take the next step and work on the spot for the Second Season. People here strive for quality and are very motivated. They take their job seriously. <\/span><\/p>\n

Christer<\/em>: Eastern Europe will go through a Golden Age soon and the road there will be very interesting. Having tried out a previous project with companies in Sofia we decided to continue with the larger project Season 2 of the tv-series.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there other local and foreign companies here doing business in your sector?<\/b><\/p>\n

Maria<\/em>: Yes, many. Our friends at Zographic films are working on many other foreign animated productions as a work for hire. There is also Nu Boyana where they are doing lots of VFX (visual effects) for big Hollywood blockbusters. And I know other 2-3 companies working in the animation field. There are surely many more. <\/span><\/p>\n

Christer<\/em>: Nu Boyana is the biggest company and the leading light for movie production in Bulgaria. Cinemotion and Zographic are also working on many interesting projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the advantages of investing in Sofia?<\/b><\/p>\n

Maria<\/em>: The quality and the pricing. Knowing the language is a big plus even though many speak English these days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christer<\/em>: Quality\/price ratio. What you can get for your euros and also having a closer cultural link than cheaper areas like Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n

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