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FIFA to Release Corruption Report; Eight Children Found Murdered in Cairns, Australia; Serbia's Movie Industry; Belgrade Has Big Plans For Airport; According to U.S. Officials, North Korea Behind Sony Pictures Hack
Aired December 19, 2014 - 8:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MAX FOSTER, HOST: I'm Max Foster in London. Welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.
The U.S. government prepares to respond after the unprecedented hack attack on Sony Pictures and publicly point the finger at Pyongyang.
Plus, another shocking crime stuns Australia. Eight children found murdered in one home. And the police have no suspects.
And football's governing body says it's taking steps to release a controversial report into allegations of World Cup bidding corruption.
We begin this hour with possible moves after the U.S. to name and shame North Korea for the cyber attack on Sony. Officials tell CNN that
hackers stole computer credentials of a Sony system administrator to gain access, that's why they don't believe it was an inside job.
The U.S. also used signal intelligence to trace the attack to North Korea.
CNN's Joe Johns reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Obama administration is ready to point the finger at North Korea for the unprecedented Sony hack, a move
that could come as early as this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're considering a range of options about how to respond.
JOHNS: Among the possible options, more sanctions. The administration insisting the response will be strong.
JENNIFER PSAKI, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: I can assure you the United State government is not blinking, we're not backing down. We're
not in a crouching or fear position here.
JOHNS: Sources tell CNN there is evidence the hackers stole computer credentials from a Sony system administrator to get access to the company's
computer system. The White House says it did not pressure Sony to pull The Interview, the controversial comedy, which depicts the assassination of
North Korean dictator Kim Jong un.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take him out.
SETH ROGEN, ACTOR: For coffee?
JAMES FRANCO, ACTOR: Dinner?
ROGEN: For kimchi?
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We believe that that kind of artistic expression is worth of protection. And it's not something that
should be subjected to intimidation just because you happen to disagree with the views.
JOHNS: U.S. officials are also considering exactly how to characterize the hack, which some are calling an act of terrorism.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, U.S. AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE OFFICER (RET.): I see it as cyber terrorism and cyber extortion. I think that what they're
doing is basically economic warfare. And they have found a way that is disproportionate to the physical power that North Korea possesses to
actually affect economics, a particular company, in this case Sony.
JOHNS: Pressure is also coming from lawmakers who want to see the White House deliver a forceful response.
REP. ED ROYCE, (R) CALIFORNIA: It's time for us to respond to this in a very strong way and show the rest of the international community that
we're not going to allow this to happen without us imposing a cost on a regime that does it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, that was Joe Johns reporting there. This latest incident involving Sony's new movie, The Interview, isn't the first time
the company was the target of hackers either. For more, Will Ripley joins me now from Tokyo.
So what's the history on this?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, like many large corporations, Max, Sony is a very popular target for hackers. They struck must recently,
or at least a major strike, in 2011 when some 77 million Playstation users had some of their private information exposed. And it happened again that
same year to Sony Pictures, another 150,000 people affected there.
Sony stepped up its cyber security, but experts here in Tokyo are telling me that even with those additional measures, it would have been
almost impossible to defend against a cyber attack like this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: Hidden behind security doors and bullet proof glass, a Tokyo office that could easily be the set of a sci-fi movie, only this plot is
real.
They say this is a map that shows all of the cyber attacks launched at Japan just in the last month.
Hackers from around the world targeting thousands of Japanese companies. For hundreds of them, this Tokyo cyber security firm is the
only line of defense.
"The hackers are always getting more advanced," says Itsuro Nichimoto.
Sometimes too advanced for those trying to keep up. For LAC, which keeps its client list confidential, the chief technology officer knows a
devastating hack like the one on Sony Pictures can penetrate even the best cyber defense.
You have all these experts here, could you have protect against an attack like this? Could anybody protect against it?
"Not 100 percent," he says. "It's like catching a cold or getting the flu."
Or in Sony's case, a disease that crippled a major corporation.
For the better part of a decade, the electronics and entertainment giant has been a popular cyber target. Three years ago, in 2011, hackers
stole 77 million PlayStation accounts, knocking out the network for almost a month.
KEITH HENRY, ASIA STRATEGIST: People thought about so-called cyber terrorism, they thought hacking.
RIPLEY: Asia strategist Keith Henry says Sony was taken by surprise last month. Cyber criminals took control of Sony Pictures' computer system
and they did something unprecedented: stealing massive amounts of data and using it to devastate the company.
HENRY: They can inflict damage, immense amount of damage to corporate America.
RIPLEY: Sony appears to be trying to avoid further provoking North Korea, the prime hacking suspect, telling CNN simply that the investigation
is ongoing. The Japanese government is also distancing itself, telling CNN it's a "United States issue."
HENRY: One of the reasons nobody is willing to make a statement is because they don't know what to say.
RIPLEY: Henry says the world is coming to terms with the new reality of cyber-terrorism.
HENRY: How are we going to deal with it? We don't know yet.
RIPLEY: For now, at tech labs like this, a new sense of urgency: figuring out how to fend off a new kind of enemy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: A new kind of cyber enemy that has the potential to cause major destruction as we have seen with Sony, but the United States
government put it this way, Max, they said this is -- goes beyond a business issue, this is an issue of their national security.
FOSTER: That's really, really blown up hasn't it? Will, thank you very much indeed.
And later we'll tell you more about North Korea's hacker army as it's being called. Members of a secretive group called Bureau 121.
Turning now to Pakistan where security forces say they have killed dozens of insurgents in a nationwide crackdown on Friday. The military
says 32 rebel fighters have been killed in an ambush as they moved towards the Afghan border in northwest Pakistan. Officials didn't say whether they
were Taliban members.
It's not clear if the operation is linked to Tuesday's massacre at a school in Peshawar that killed 148 people, most of them students.
Now relatives of the victims gathered at a cemetery today to recite prayers following mass funerals earlier this week.
Amid the sadness, there is also anger. Protest vigils were held in Karachi and other Pakistani cities on Thursday. People are demanding that
the government do more to protect them from terrorism.
And now to Cairns Australia. Police have not yet named a suspect in the tragic case of eight children found dead in a suburban home. A woman
who authorities say is the mother of seven of those children is now helping with he investigation.
Adam Walters of Australia's 7 Network has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM WALTERS, 7 NETWORK CORRESPONDENT: Days of overwhelming grief end with the crushing news that eight children have been murdered in a Cairns
house. Beyond the front window adorned with Christmas decorations victims aged between 18 months and 15 years.
LISA THAIDAY, RELATIVE: It's confirmed that they are dead, so they're only babies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's shocking to happen, you know. Eight children gone.
WALTERS: The awful scene was discovered by the 20-year-old brother of the victims.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got off the bus and he found his mother and siblings.
WALTERS: A woman was found suffering knife wounds to her chest and taken to Cairns hospital.
BRUNO ASHICAR, CAIRNS POLICE: She's a 34-year-old woman, I believe. And it's very, very early days so she's in a stable condition.
WALTERS: Police have confirmed the woman is a mother of seven of the eight children, all members of the Cairns Torres Strait Islander community.
Elders say an 18-year-old relative who has just been released from jail is being interviewed by police.
YODIE BATZKE, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE: Not too sure if he was on ice or whatever it was. The children were left with him.
ASHICAR: These events are very distressing for everyone, of course. And police officers aren't immune from that. We're human beings as well.
WALTERS: Other neighborhood children knew the victims well.
UNIDENTIFEID FEMALE: Some of the boys were close to our little cousins and they used to play footie and stuff.
WALTERS: Detectives appeal for distressed locals to stay calm.
ASHICAR: Other than the fact that it's a tragic, tragic event, the situation is well controlled. At the moment, there's no -- shouldn't be
any concern for anyone else out of this environment.
WALTERS: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said, "the people of Queensland will feel the effects of this tragedy, particularly at a time
when families come together."
The crime scene is expected to be cordoned off for several days as the Queensland coroner starts his own investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: That was Adam Walters of Australia's 7 Network.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is calling the murders in Cairns an unspeakable crime. He says that, "all parents would feel a gut-wrenching
sadness at what has happened."
You're watching News Stream. Coming up this hour, a decision that could shake up the football community. FIFA says they will release a
report on corruption, at least a form of it.
Meanwhile, the verdict is in at a closely watched corruption trial in Hong Kong. We'll bring you the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: FIFA's executive committee has voted to publicly release what it calls an appropriate form of the controversial report on corruption.
President Sepp Blatter is expected to speak right now, but FIFA isn't broadcasting the news conference live. We have to wait for a delayed
version of it.
The report examines any wrongdoings in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments in Russia and Qatar. U.S. attorney
Michael Garcia was appointed to lead the ethics investigation. He delivered his report in September and resigned this week saying this
summary was incomplete and erroneous.
For me I'm joined by Gavin Hamilton here in our studio. He's the executive editor of World Soccer magazine.
When we say an appropriate form, we mean it's going to be redacted, censored.
GAVIN HAMILTON, WORLD SOCCER MAGAZINE: I think it'll be heavily edited, heavily censored. I mean, this decision has been taken today by
the executive committee of FIFA unanimously we understand even though a number of members of the committee are under investigation as a result of
the report and yet they've agreed to its publication.
FOSTER: So you're all comfortable with it. So you think it's erring on the side of more redaction.
HAMILTON: I think it will be heavily on the side of caution and it will be heavily redacted, otherwise these people who are under
investigation themselves would not have agreed to its publication.
FOSTER: And they're also saying that it won't affect the decisions on the next two hosts Russia and Qatar.
So, that -- I mean, well that seems to suggest that whatever happens they're going...
HAMILTON: FIFA are trying to draw a line under it. No matter what's happened, no matter the allegations of corruption that have swirled around
ever since this really extremely controversial decision four years ago, no matter what's happened FIFA are now trying to draw a line under it and say
what's in the past is in the past and let's move on. Unfortunately, the World Cup is still in Qatar, still seven years ago, still lots of time for
things to happen.
So it's not going to go away, but FIFA are trying to put the lid on the box and try and keep it closed.
FOSTER: Critics like Platini here in Europe have already said that they want a completely clean report. So they're not going to accept this
are they?
HAMILTON: I don't think they are. And I think there's always been a lot of opposition to Sepp Blatter and the whole bidding process from Europe
and North America. But Sepp Blatter is very mindful that he is up for reelection at the FIFA congress next May and all his support, a majority of
support will come from Asia, from Africa, from South America and the Caribbean. He doesn't need support from Europe and North America, he can
get by with the criticism, he can withstand that criticism.
S0, he's prepared to take that, I think, and move on. And he's trying now to survive and still the FIFA congress in May when he will be reelected
as president for a fifth term.
FOSTER: Do you think that the rest of the world outside Europe will be satisfied with this, then?
HAMILTON: I don't think the rest of the world is particularly bothered. I mean, the members of FIFA -- Blatter relies on the 200 members
of FIFA to reelect him, a majority of those are outside of Europe. They're happy with the money that they received from FIFA by the sponsors and the
whole process means that it's very hard for anybody to challenge Blatter and to change the status quo and to change the way that FIFA is organized.
FOSTER: This whole argument about transparency, though, it's constantly questioned in this continent, isn't it? And is it helped by the
fact that there will be redaction, the press conferences and the like, these sorts of sort of signals that keep coming out?
HAMILTON: Well, I mean, I think we'll hear from Blatter in the press conference eventually that he's being open and transparent and that we
believe in transparency. He's doing the exact opposite by delaying a press conference, refusing to stream the press conference live as they happen in
the past. Little things like this all add up to FIFA acting in a very closed manner.
And it's always been like that. They're based in Switzerland. They hide behind Swiss law and it's very difficult to uncover as Mike Garcia
found out, two years investigation. He uncovered things that he thought were serious. They haven't been published and he's been forced to
resigned.
FOSTER: OK, Gavin Hamilton, thank you very much indeed.
Hong Kong's biggest ever corruption trial has ended. Property tycoon Thomas Kwok has been convicted of bribing Hong Kong's former number two
official who was also found guilty for misconduct in public office.
But jurors acquitted Kwok's brother Raymond of all charges. Manisha Tank explains why and the case was so closely watched.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANISHA TANK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That man scales the IFB, towering over Hong Kong in The Dark Knight. It's an architectural
stamp of wealth and power.
It isn't really surprising the producers chose IFB as the backdrop for the dramatic scene, it's one of the most famous buildings on the Hong Kong
skyline, and it's also one of the three tallest. All three of those tallest buildings were built by Sun Hung Kai, that's the property company
founded by the Kwok brothers.
Indeed, the trial of the brothers Thomas and Raymond Kwok had Hollywood plot lines, the biggest corruption case ever in Hong Kong -- a
mistress, Bribery and a family feud all laced with political intrigue. The main question over whether the brothers bought the allegiance of this man,
Rafael Hui, a one-time chief secretary of the Hong Kong government.
The central allegation, the brothers made payments to Hui through a series of intermediaries and in return they got access to key information
to help their business.
For the general public, the trial was a rare window into the world of the powerful and rich. The brothers and family are worth $14.5 billion, on
a level with the Murdochs, according to Forbes Magazine's latest rich list.
Throughout the trial, the brothers and Hui maintained they were innocent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I can say that personally I have done nothing wrong. And I can vouch for Mr. Thomas Kwok that he has
done nothing wrong either. I hope this investigation will clear my name.
TANK: But the trial itself fueled a wider debate about the access of big business to big influence, especially in Hong Kong, a vibrant financial
hub where the health gap is increasing.
DAVID WEBB, FOUNDER, WEBB SITE REPORTS: If you don't have outright bribery, then you might still have problems with influence pedaling through
the election system where large conglomerates have large numbers who vote. That tends to result in a government that has to respond to its corporate
electorate rather than to the general public.
TANK: This isn't the first time corruption in Hong Kong has hit the front pages. It follows hot on the heels of an investigation into former
chief executive Donald Sung (ph) for taking expensive gifts from Chinese businessmen, an allegation he denies.
The Kwok brothers' trial that has played out at the courthouse behind me has put into focus Hong Kong's reputation as a fairly corruption free
place to do business. And indeed in Transparency International's latest report, Hong Kong ranks 17th on the global corruption index. That's a
pretty good showing. It's even on a level with the United States.
But it's worth noting that Hong Kong has slipped in the rankings over the last four years. And many are wondering if it has further to go.
Manisha Tank, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Still to come, Russia's currency crisis has been spooking markets in recent weeks, but it looks like the battered ruble is actually
making a bit of a comeback today. Details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Bomb squads in Madrid responded early on Friday after a man crashed his car into the headquarters of the ruling Conservative Party. He
claimed to have explosives in the vehicle. Police found two gas canisters and an unknown substance that is now being tested.
The driver, who has been arrested, told police he's having financial problems.
Now to the U.S. where stocks are poised for even more gains today. It follows Thursday's rally. The Dow had its best day in more than three
years after U.S. Federal Reserve said interest rates are to stay low for some time yet.
World Markets have also been moving higher off the back of that surge in U.S. share prices. Asian markets closed with solid gains across the
board today. And European markets are rising in early trade, though they've since paired back by some of those gains.
Russia's currency even seeing a slight rebound today. The hard hit ruble is up almost 2 percent. Just yesterday, Russian President Vladimir
Putin weighed in on the country's recent run of financial trouble. He's blaming external factors for the economic turmoil, among them a drop in the
price of oil and western imposed sanctions.
There could soon be a new travel hub in Europe: the Serbian capital city of Belgrade. They've seen a surge in traffic at its main
international airport. Our Paula Newton looks at some of the reasons behind the spike.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're hear at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla International Airport. And you may think this is
an unlikely spot for Europe's newest regional hub, but traffic here is up more than 30 percent, that's this year alone. And this place has big plans
for expansion.
ANA LUKOVIC, DIR. OF DEVELOPMENT, BELGRADE INTL. AIRPORT: It's amazing, you know, 33 percent of increase of passenger traffic and 26
percent with cargo and aircraft (inaudible). So the result is great really.
NEWTON: Explain why Belgrade works as a European hub?
LUKOVIC: Well, we are already a hub, but we have plans to become much stronger European hub in this moment. But if you see the map of Europe you
will see that all hubs are in center part of Europe. Europe needs a strong hub at this part, you know, at southeastern part of Europe.
So we have very good position. We have very long history here. And during the past in former Yugoslavia, Belgrade airport was the center and
biggest airport for Balkan region. So we have history. We have experience. We know how to run airports. So that is the reason for
success.
NEWTON: Growth here is not without its challenges. They need a new runway and an expansion of the terminal building. But they are confident
here that Belgrade will reach its potential as the next regional European hub.
Paula Newton, CNN, Belgrade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: You're watching CNN News Stream. And coming up, uncovering Bureau 121. We take a look at the unseen soldiers fronting North Korea's
cyber war.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in London. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines this hour.
In Cairns, Australia police say they have not yet identified any suspects in the death of eight children whose bodies were found inside a
suburban home. The victims were aged between 18 months and 15 years. Officials say the mother of seven of the victims is being treated for
serious injuries and is assisting with the investigation.
FIFA's executive committee has voted to publicly release what it calls an appropriate form of a controversial report on corruption. The report
examines any wrongdoings in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments in Russia and Qatar. But FIFA President Sepp Blatter says
FIFA will not revisit or change those past votes.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters say they have broken the ISIS siege of Mount Sinjar with the help of coalition airstrikes. You'll recall that
thousands from the minority Yazidi community fled there from ISIS last summer. U.S. forces also say airstrikes last month killed three ISIS
leaders.
U.S. officials say hackers stole computer credentials of a system administrator to access Sony's computer system, meaning it wasn't an inside
job. The cyber attack led Sony to pull the release of its film The Interview, a fictional plot to assassinate North Korea's leader.
The New York Times editorial board says the Obama administration must take a strong action in response to the cyber attack on Sony. It writes
that "corporations, even large ones like Sony, cannot stand up to a rogue state and shadowy hacker armies all by themselves."
A leading U.S. Senator says congress will act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I think it should be a wakeup call. It should be a wakeup call that a country like North Korea has this kind of
capability. Imagine the capability they have to disrupt other aspects of American life. So, it's time we as congress -- frankly, it's time the
congress got together with the administration and pass legislation on this whole issue of cyber security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So the question is how could North Korea disrupt a major organization, corporation, shelve a movie, even spread fear amongst theater
owners of a potential attack?
The answers might lie in a secretive North Korean agency called Bureau 121. And Kyung Lah has been looking into that for us from Seoul in South
Korea -- Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, this bureau -- the best way to think of it is an agency that exists strictly in the
shadows, warriors that you cannot see, the battleground being cyber space. The exact numbers of how many of them unknown. The estimates are about
1,500, 1,800, all with the same mission, to disrupt western states.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): North Korean soldiers, a technicolor parading force against the west. On state-run television -- a near ridiculous bravado of
the military, but there are unseen soldiers in Kim Jong- Un's cyber war versus the west. They have no face, and only known by a number, Bureau 121.
(on camera): What is Bureau 121?
(voice-over): They conduct the cyber-attacks overseas and against enemy states, says this North Korean defector, a former Pyongyang military
computer systems worker, now in South Korea independently attempting to crumble an agency nearly impossible to chase,
Bureau 121, a shadow agency with an unknown number of the regime's hand-picked shadow agents placed in countries around the world. Chung
believes there are approximately 1,800 of them. He says the agents themselves don't know how many exist.
We can't verify Chung's claims about the shadow group. But he says he's obtained from a current operative hundreds of financial files hacked
from South Korean banks, complete with names and other bank account details.
Is the cyber war the real war for North Korea? Raising cyber agents is fairly cheap, he says, the world has the wrong view of the North Korean
state. With that incorrect world view, North Korea was able to increase its ability to launch cyber-attacks. South Korea learned the hard way -- banks
across the country last year were paralyzed, ATMs frozen for days. Media outlets went dark, servers jammed or wiped.
North Korea denied it was a source of a hack. But in the wake of the attack, South Korea beefed up its own cyber forces, declaring the online
war -- as dangerous as Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: And what North Korea craves more than anything -- and we've seen this pattern over time -- they want to be visible to the global community.
They want to be respected on the global stage. Certainly, Max, this stunning Sony hack has certainly given them that visibility -- Max.
FOSTER: It really has. And they've become experts in it, because as you say incredibly hard thing to track. People didn't even know about it
in large parts of the world.
But the U.S. does seem to have some evidence against them now.
LAH: Certainly. And there's evidence in South Korea as well. And it's actually intriguing. If you look at what's happened in South Korea
last year, you compare, according to the cyber experts we've spoken to here in South Korea, if you compare the codes and the malware, what has happened
previously in South Korea to what was seen in the Sony Hack attacks. And what has most recently been seen in some recent attacks here in South
Korea, they're all the same. They have striking similarities.
And so that's why you have intelligence experts saying there is only one source. Yes, these attacks may be coming from different parts of the
world, but they believe systematically they are all coming ordered from Pyongyang.
LAH: OK, Kyung Lah, thank you very much indeed for bringing us that from Seoul.
You're watching News Stream. Still to come, this isn't Hollywood or Bollywood. After the break, we check out Serbia's burgeoning movie
industry. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Well, yesterday we told you about Serbia's rise in tennis. It turns out, the country is also taking the world stage in a very
different area and that's movie making. Paula Newton shows us why Serbia has become a first class destination for film production.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Medieval Europe, turn of the century Vienna, 19th Century Scotland, or how about 1970s Communist Russia, it seems every corner and
crevice of Serbia can make the cut in Hollywood.
ANA ILIC, SERBIAN FILM COMMISSION: Belgrade actually faked eight cities and the whole country faked 16 different countries. So it was
pretty good for film making.
NEWTON: Serbia fakes it well.
ILIC: Yes, definitely.
NEWTON: From Pierce Brosnan's November Man...
PIERCE BROSNAN, ACTOR: He is the greatest assassin I've ever trained.
NEWTON: To Ray Fiennes in Coriolanus, John Cusak in The Raven and dozens of others, Serbia is building an impressive reputation in movie
production where the rave reviews on its amazing set location, skilled crews and low production costs.
Ana Ilic is from Serbia's film commission.
ILIC: Serbia has done some really great productions in recent years, has proven to be a really good competitive, high quality service filming
destination. It's quite hot now.
NEWTON: Serbia and the former Yugoslavia before it, had a rich history of movie production for almost a century. Even Marshal Tito, the
Communist dictator who ruled Yugoslavia, understood that film could be a cultural currency, promoting film and screening thousands of them in his
private theater.
When you're in full production and this place is just buzzing.
Now a new generation of Serbian filmmakers is making movies. Andjelka vlaisavljevic is matching her film making savvy with a meticulous approach
to budgets in her production company Work in Progress.
ANDJELKA VLAISAVLJECIV, OWNER, WORK IN PROGRESS: They would say, Siberia, no way, we are not going there. It's cold and so it's like no,
no, no, it's Serbia. Can you imagine what the reaction to Serbia was? That changed completely now. Everybody, the buzz is out that here it's not
just very good crews and all that, but it's a good time that you have, you know, in Belgrade -- working in Belgrade.
And again everybody has such a large fixation when it comes to us, then they get the pleasantly surprised them. So they like it here.
Honestly, I can say that.
NEWTON: Bojan Peric is a Serbian actor who has found success at home and in Hollywood productions, here with Guy Pearce in Lockout.
He says he's proud not just of his own success, but of the talent and skill of the crews and production teams he works with.
BOJAN PERIC, ACTOR: During all those bad times that happened in the past, an industry that did not fall back was the film industry, because,
you know, that is important for the culture of the people. And I believe that our country makes its image through culture.
NEWTON: Before 1990, with films like Sophie's Choice, Yugoslavia was second only to Britain for the number of productions shot outside
Hollywood, especially if the government pitches in with incentives, many here now believe Serbia can set the scene for a new golden age of film.
Paula Newton, CNN, Belgrade.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: And that was News Stream. I'm Max Foster. Thank you very much indeed for watching. Don't go anywhere. World Sport with Patrick
Snell is up next with that latest report from FIFA.
END
