A drive
2014 · short narrative fiction film · film
Short fiction debut about a couple’s final drive toward emotional rupture and separation.
Kratki igrani debi o paru čija posljednja zajednička vožnja pretvara istrošenu vezu u rez i rastanak.
This project credentials: Creative production
Notes from the producer
A Drive was a debut I produced the way you produce a first film: narrowly, on purpose. Marina and I spent 2012 shaping one situation instead of a whole plot, and by 2013 we had a signed cast, a call sheet for 4 May, and a shoot. On paper the budget was 136.696,25 HRK. In reality the only lines that closed were our own Aning Film investment and Canon's in-kind gear. The HAVC and Grad Zagreb money we had planned around never confirmed, so the deferred-participation contracts, Marina's income share, Karmen working without an upfront fee, stopped being a structure and became the actual way the film got paid for.
We still delivered. There is a final cut dated 30 May 2014 and a finished credit package. What I will not dress up is the distribution end: we wrote a serious plan for school screenings and 2014 festivals, and I cannot point to records that prove those selections and screenings happened at the scale we designed. The film got made and finished on money we had to find ourselves; the circulation stayed a plan more than a result. That is the honest version, and I would rather leave it there than inflate it.
- Matija Radeljak
The story
A Drive (Voznja) began in 2012 as a debut for writer-director Marina Kuvezdic, developed inside a screenwriting track rather than improvised on set. The producer statement records the first meeting between Kuvezdic and producer Matija Radeljak and the slow shaping of the material, with mentorship from Tomislav Zajec through the Centar za kreativno pisanje in Zagreb. The idea was deliberately narrow: a couple whose relationship has worn out, compressed into one last shared car ride that can no longer hide the collapse.
By 2013 the intention hardened into a production. Contracts were signed at the start of the year, a dated call sheet fixed the shooting day on 4 May 2013, and the film was made under Aning usluge d.o.o. with Radeljak and Bojan Kanjera producing. Karmen Suncana Lovric and Slavko Sobin played the couple, and Teo Tvrdeic handled score and sound. The visual grammar mirrored the script: bodies framed inside and around vehicles, closeness read as confinement, and abrupt cuts between a cramped cabin and open fields.
The money is where the project tells the truth about itself. The 26 September 2013 budget sets a total of 136.696,25 HRK. Two lines were actually realized: Aning Film's own investment of 49.075,00 HRK and Canon Hrvatska's in-kind equipment support of 5.120,00 HRK. The two public lines the plan counted on, HAVC at 64.526,25 HRK and Grad Zagreb at 17.975,00 HRK, were never marked closed. That gap was not abstract. The contracts carried it into the labour model itself: Kuvezdic's author agreement assigned a 15 percent net-income share, and Karmen Lovric worked with no upfront fee against a share of net profit and of any realized public funding. People were paid, in part, out of a future that depended on grants that did not confirm.
Even so, the film reached delivery. A final cut is dated 30 May 2014, the credit package is stamped copyright Aning FILM 2014, and a photoboard of shot-film visuals was compiled for presentation. A late-September 2013 distribution plan mapped a concrete route out: school screenings with the filmmakers present, moderated discussions, online access, and 2014 festival submissions to targets including Tabor, ZFF and the Ljubljana short film festival.
What the archive does not show is the payoff. There is no record confirming which festival applications converted into selections, or whether the school-outreach model ran at the scale it was designed for. The honest shape of A Drive is a completed micro-budget debut, produced end to end when the public financing it was built around never landed, held together by deferred participation rather than confirmed grants. As a piece of producing, that is the service it proves: taking a first-time director's script through contracting, a disciplined shoot, post and a finished master on money that had to be found in-house.
Milestones
- 2012 — Development begins with writer-director Marina Kuvezdic and producer Matija Radeljak; screenwriting mentorship via Centar za kreativno pisanje (Tomislav Zajec)
- 2013-01-31 — Author agreement with Marina Kuvezdic signed under Aning usluge d.o.o. (15% net-income share)
- 2013-04-29 — Performer agreement with Karmen Suncana Lovric (no upfront fee; profit and public-funding share)
- 2013-05-04 — Principal shooting day, per dated call sheet
- 2013-09-26 — Consolidated budget version set at 136.696,25 HRK
- 2013-09-27 — Distribution plan documented: school screenings and 2014 festival targets (Tabor, ZFF, Ljubljana)
- 2014-05-30 — Final cut delivered
Outcomes
- Final cut delivered — Finished edit master dated 30 May 2014.
- Completed credit package — Cast and post-production roles documented; marked copyright Aning FILM 2014.
- Presentation assets compiled — Photoboard of shot-film visuals archived for the finished film.
- Financing partially closed — Aning Film investment (49.075,00 HRK) and Canon Hrvatska in-kind support (5.120,00 HRK) realized; HAVC and Grad Zagreb lines never confirmed.
Credits
- Marina Kuvezdic — Writer-director
- Matija Radeljak — Producer
- Bojan Kanjera — Producer and cast
- Karmen Suncana Lovric — Lead cast (ONA)
- Slavko Sobin — Lead cast (ON)
- Teo Tvrdeic — Composer and sound recordist
- Tomislav Zajec — Screenwriting mentor
- Aning usluge d.o.o. — Production company
Related work: Le petit déjeuner