From SKAM to SRAM: Youth Drama, Public Broadcasters, and the Power of Adaptation
While the region sees growing success with SRAM, the latest adaptation of NRK’s SKAM, this panel explores what makes the format so adaptable and resonant across borders. With more than ten local versions to date, SKAM has demonstrated a rare ability to engage youth audiences beyond its original market, each time re-imagined through a different cultural lens. At the centre of the discussion is how to build long-term value for youth-oriented IP in a fragmented, fast-moving media landscape. A particular focus is placed on how public broadcasters balance their responsibility to provide free, high-quality, and educational programming, especially for younger audiences,with the strategic opportunities offered by localisation, adaptation, and international partnerships. The panel brings together perspectives from public broadcasting, production, distribution, and screenwriting to examine how adaptation choices shape tone, authenticity, and reach; how rights are defined and protected; and how collaboration with external partners can strengthen both cultural relevance and market potential.
SPEAKERS
BRUNO MUSTIĆ
Producer, CGM Films | UK
MODERATED BY
MAŠA MARKOVIĆ
Head of Industry, Sarajevo Film Festival
TIME
Tuesday, August 19th, 2025
12:30 – 13:30 (CET)
LOCATION
Festival Garden
MAJA FIŠTER
Head of Kids and Youth, Hrvatska Radio Televizija (HRT) | HR
JULIA SCHWEIGER
Senior Executive, Kids & Family Entertainment, Beta Film/Beta Kids & YA | DE
CYRIL KYSZ
Writer/Headwriter | FR
Bruno Mustić
Bruno Mustić is a Croatian film producer, festival founder, and creative entrepreneur. At nineteen, he launched the Brač Film Festival, which is now a key summer cinema event in the region. Educated in film directing and production in Zagreb and London, he shifted early on into producing to shape projects from concept to screen. As CEO of CGM Films, Mustić produced the hit youth drama SRAM (HRT), which surpassed 140 million views and became a digital-era phenomenon.
Julia Schweiger
Julia Schweiger has worked at Beta Film for over sixteen years. Before moving to her current position as Senior Executive at Beta’s boutique label Beta Film Kids & YA, she started her career in sales and marketing at Beta Film, where she held the position of Head of Marketing, among other posts. She holds an MBA from PFH Gottingen. Schweiger works across a wide portfolio of content targeting audiences aged two through twenty-two, with a particular focus on the eight-to-twelve and young adult segments. Beta Kids & YA's portfolio includes various formats of SKAM, as well as notable titles such as ANNE WITH AN E (Netflix) and RUMORS (NRK). Recent additions to the slate include SHADOW LEAKS and STABLE-ISH.
Maja Fišter
Born and raised in Zagreb, Maja Fišter has always had a passion for storytelling. After graduating from studies in journalism, she became particularly interested in creating television content. She gained media experience as a reporter, presenter, author, and executive editor at Croatian Television, working across nearly all editorial departments as well as on special projects. She is the screenwriter and director of the reality-doc series UDOMI ME (Adopt Me) and DIVLJA ZOONA (Wild Zone) , as well as the films SLUSAJ KAMEN (Listen to the Stone) and AUTO ZA AFRIKU (A Car for Africa). From 2015 to 2021, she taught television journalism at the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Croatian Studies. Fišter is particularly drawn to innovative and creative approaches to media—especially formats that push boundaries. As part of the creative team, she contributed to the development of HRT’s original youth platform Meeting_Official_HR, and served as editor on the youth drama series SRAM. She currently heads HRT’s Department for Children and Youth, where she focuses on developing innovative, high-quality content for young audiences.
Cyril Kysz
After graduating from the Sorbonne and UCLA, Cyril Kysz worked in production, notably for Chuck Lorre at 20th Century Fox Television, then went on to write, develop, or supervise the scripting of television IP including Marvel’s FANTASTIC 4 and IRON MAN, CASPER, CODE LYOKO, GORMITI, MARSUPILAMI, Warner’s XIAOLIN CHRONICBLES, Luc Besson’s ARTHUR & LES MINIMOYS, and Playmobil’s SUPER4. After a few successful years in animation, he returned to live action and has developed several series for Canal+, Netflix, Amazon, Mediawan, Banijay, and France television, including the French/German series OUIJA, and co-created the hit series SKAM FRANCE, which has run for twelve seasons.
Maša Marković
MAŠA MARKOVIĆ is Head of Industry at the Sarajevo Film Festival since 2022. A graduate of Charles University in Prague, she has held key roles at CineLink for over a decade, contributing to the development of CineLink Industry Days into a major platform for co-production, professional training, and cross-sector exchange in Southeast Europe. Her previous experience includes coordination of the Ex Oriente Film (Institute of Documentary Film in Prague) and she has served as a matchmaker for various European market platforms.
From 2017 to 2025, she curated Dealing with the Past, a non-competition section of the Sarajevo Film Festival, and since 2019, has led the Human Rights Day programme. Both strands use film as a tool for dialogue and youth-driven social engagement and have led to the launch of several initiatives combining film, education, and civic participation. Since 2021, she has also overseen the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region, a collaborative initiative that connects seven regional festivals with the goal of fostering shared programming strategies, joint audience development activities, sustainability practices, enhanced regional visibility, and strengthened festival professionalism across Southeast Europe.