Hello,

I’m a screenwriter and series creator based in Zagreb, Croatia, working across the UK and European markets. I tend to write about people trying to escape themselves and what happens when they’re forced to confront who they are.


Represented by Nick Fenwick at Curtis Brown.

My Bio

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Daria Stilin is a screenwriter and series creator based in Zagreb, Croatia, working across the UK and European markets in both English and Croatian. She focuses on character-driven drama, often developed within international co-production frameworks.

She is the creator and executive producer of Suspicious Circumstances, an original crime drama series currently in development with Antitalent and Big Light Productions. She previously developed the series Sirocco for Drugi Plan in collaboration with Beta Film and ZDF, writing the series bible and first two episodes. Her broadcast work includes the drama series Gora (The Highlands) for HRT and Kumovi (The Godfathers) for Nova TV.

Her work has been supported by programmes including European Showrunner Training (ifs Köln), CineLink Drama, Talents Sarajevo, and CNC Going European, and has received multiple development grants from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, as well as industry recognition including the Beta Film Co-Development Award.

Alongside her writing, she is the founder and festival director of the Vrboska Film Festival and serves as a Croatian Screenwriters’ Guild representative within national and European industry bodies, including the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe.

She writes and develops projects in Croatian and English, and is represented by Nick Fenwick at Curtis Brown.

Send me an e-mail

Selected Projects (TV & Film)

  • SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

    Series, 8 x 60’
    Crime drama

    Creator / Head Writer / Executive Producer

    Currently in development with Antitalent and Big Light Productions.

    An original crime drama series set between the UK and Croatia.

  • CANVAS CITY (PLATNENI GRAD)

    Limited series, 8 x 60’
    Period drama / WWII

    Creator / Writer

    Script development funding by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
    Developed through TorinoFilmLab TV Series – Extended, Talents Sarajevo, and Stowe Story Labs Writer’s Retreat.

    Logline: Seventeen-year-old Sofia hides her pregnancy as her family flees to Egypt as Yugoslav WWII refugees. In a tightly controlled desert camp, she and other young women begin to resist the limits placed on them – at the cost of safety, belonging, and everything they know.

  • TIED UP (PROJEKT PALMA)

    Feature film
    Comedy/drama

    Writer

    Script development funding by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. NEM Zagreb winner. Winner of the Pula Film Festival (PulaPRO) award for “Most Likely Box Office Hit”.

    Logline: A career-driven woman is forced to return to her small island hometown to confront her past and convince her grandfather to untie himself from a palm tree scheduled for removal.

    (Loosely inspired by real events.)

  • VHS CLUB

    Feature film
    Coming-of-age/time travel

    Writer

    Currently in development and in discussions with UK producers; developed through PulaPRO's “Script Your Hit” workshop and pitching programme.

    Logline: Three 13-year-olds from 2027 are transported back to their school in 1997 through a VHS tape, where they must save a failing talent show together with their own parents as teenagers, and unknowingly reshape the future.

Produced Short Films

  • CODFISH

    Orig. Title: BAKALOR
    fiction, short / comedy
    2020 / 20’ / color

    Writer / Director

    Logline: In a small island town, Branko’s growing frustration with his fellow villagers and the absurdity of local bureaucracy begins to spiral, turning Christmas Eve in Vrboska into a test neither he nor his community is prepared for.

    Festivals and Awards: Pula Film Festival 2020 – Short Pula, Dalmatia Film Festival 2021, Star Film Festival 2022 (Audience Award)

    HAVC Croatian film catalogue

  • TOAST

    Orig. Title: TOST
    fiction, short / drama
    2018 / 20’ / color

    Writer / Director / Producer

    Logline: High school graduates Julija and Lena escape their small hometown for a romantic weekend in Zagreb, only to find the apartment they’ve rented isn’t what it seemed. Stranded, they turn to Julija’s older brother Leo – who may pose an even greater threat to their relationship.

    Festivals and Awards: Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film 2018

    HAVC Croatian film catalogue

    Now available online on the Croatian.film platform