When you empathize with someone: you stand by his side, you listen carefully the beating of his heart, and you can see through his eyes – none of this in itself changes the world, but it makes it better. When you empathize with someone and decide to help him – you already manage to change everything.
Fabrika ideja (eng. Factory of ideas) is a story of an enterprise that goes beyond the concept of business, represents a specific way of understanding entrepreneurship and indicates what we can do if we have the true motivation, inexhaustible energy and the will to change things. The co-founders of this limited liability company and producers of a TV show ‘Dnevnica’ Vladan Otasevic, the author and editor of the programs, and Biljana Savicevic, the presenter, have a heart big enough to provide shelter prone for people in need and hands wide enough to hug and support everyone who needs help.
Over the past four years, they have produced 120 shows in which they have helped members of about 110 families and individuals, as well as associations that strive for the best possible position of vulnerable society categories and have brought joy and hope into the homes of those who needs it the most.
The production of ‘Dnevnica’ started in 2015 and the first show was implemented in December. The idea was developed over the years and the goal was to create media content that would indicate the importance of solidarity, by inviting many celebrities from all different fields of our society to participate in one hour shows and do daily chores, earn money, and thanks to this work, as well as the help of sponsors and citizens, raise as many funds as possible for the families at risk.
The ‘Dnevnica’ has remarkably grown and over half a million euros of financial assistance have been collected in 4 years, with the participation of over 250 businesses and thousands of citizens.
There are many difficulties behind successful and seemingly easy implementation of this show as well as thousands of hours of painstaking work, to solve creativity-oriented problems, as well as administrative tasks related to harmonizing activities they implement with existing laws and regulations in the relevant field, adapting to new situations and resolving practical ones. The accomplishment of this noble mission is made even more complex by the fact that the company employs only two of them, while they can count on the rest of the team only during project implementation.
The most important real effect of Biljana and Vladan’s show ‘Dnevnica’ is the development of a collective sense of empathy in our society, accompanied by a growing desire to help someone and a strong encouragement of altruism – what, in their deep conviction, truly makes us human.
Although the help this show provides is seemingly short-lived, it also brings long-term relief to the families covered by the project. Namely, after the broadcast of television episodes, people are widely signing up to help vulnerable people in various ways: from various donations to adequate assistance in the process of education, training or employment of the family members; so, the actual amount of direct material and indirect aid is much higher than what was officially recorded.
Regardless of the decades-long and award-winning journalistic experience of its creators, there would be no room for the idea of ’Dnevnica’ on television programs if they had not created it themselves. They have earned their extraordinary place on the map that covers the field of our creative industries, by being creative, persistent and relentless dedicated. Fabrika ideja (eng. Factory of ideas) is engaged in multimedia production, so apart from ‘Dnevnica’, they have also made projects such as a very well-known video on the topic of peer violence for the needs of the Parents Association or the launch of the Dzada Film Fest, in whose implementation they participated in for the first two years and received the City of Podgorica Award; or ‘paint your home with a smile’ action, which implies that the homes of families who are in social and material need are being significantly adapted, which is carried out in cooperation with the company Chameleon Paints and Varnishes, which received the ‘Iskra’ award for philanthropy as many others for their socially responsible business and participation in this project… In addition, Fabrika ideja also produces documentaries, corporate and promo films, advertising spots, social media marketing…
The initiators of the Fabrika ideja and the ‘Dnevnica’ show have done a lot for the environment they live in, but they remain humble. Their empathy is rooted in the belief that there are many people in our society whose daily contributions are no less than theirs. That is why their compassion remained pure and sincere.
What does each of us have to say about this?
