Macedonia Hopes to Lure Hollywood Filmmakers

As part of the government hosted visit, the Hollywood film crew led by Oscar-winning movie producer Timothy Marlowe, producer and reporter Percy von Lipinski and cinematographer Rob Haber have started a tour across the country.

Lipinski, who will be in charge of filming 15 promotional videos about the country, hopes that they can encourage Hollywood movie makers to film in Macedonia, while helping create a recognizable tourist brand.

“With a small country like Macedonia, it is no easy task, but we believe we have the formula to find what is the most unique for Macedonia” Lipinski told a press conference in Skopje. Lipinski is known as CNN’s travel guru for his experience in branding countries.

“We have a special, Hollywood way of branding and advertising, allowing people to identify with scenes and stories from the movies," he said.

"Take ‘Casablanca’ for example, which has done a lot for tourism in Morocco. There is this kind of tourism in which people relate to scenes and emotions from movies and they want to visit the place where a movie has been shot. Hollywood does that very successfully” Lipinski added.

The team will shoot videos at several locations, from the old bazaar in Skopje, to Lake Ohrid, Galicica Mountain, the mountain village of Lazaropole, Matka gorge, the monastery of Treskavec, and other places.

As of early next year, the videos will be available on YouTube and will be aired by international TV stations, Kristijan Dzambazovski, the head of the Macedonian Tourism Agency, which is hosting the Hollywood crew, said.

“Our aim is to present Macedonia in the best way possible and to make it known as a tourist destination in world’s leading media,” Dzambazovski...