MakeDox

What MakeDox does

MakeDox is a non-profit cultural organization founded in 2010 and headquartered in Skopje, North Macedonia, that operates the annual MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival across multiple city venues (Kurshumli An, Suli An, Youth Cultural Center, and outdoor locations). The organization runs a multi-layered program stack: the core festival with its competitive sections and the distinctive Onion Award franchise; the MakeCoProDox Forum (launched 2019) selecting 10 Balkan documentary projects each year for mentorship and industry pitching; the Traveling Cinema (launched 2010), a mobile screening initiative that has reached 13,000+ people in 100+ rural locations including border areas of Albania; and a portfolio of education programs including DocuSprouts (youth film school), MakeDox in Classroom (80 high schools, 30,000+ students annually), MakeDox in Cinema (15,000+ primary pupils in Skopje), We Are Visual!/WAVE (114 schools in 56 cities), ACTive (regional youth film school with Pravo Ljudski and DokuFest), Youth Film Clubs in 12 Macedonian cities, and the Widening the Lens cultural exchange with Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

Distribution is handled through a network of partnerships rather than owned channels: the European Moving Docs partnership (since 2017, 20+ organizations under Creative Europe), the co-founded Balkan Documentary Distribution Network (BDDN) with Restart, Free Zone, DokuFest, UnderhillFest, Demiurg and Petra Pan, and the FestDocs Network with Doc.fest Munchen, FIPADOC, and DocsBarcelona. Documented technology is limited to a web-based content management and distribution platform; no APIs, SDKs, or proprietary AI features are disclosed.

Revenue mechanics consist of festival ticket sales (100–2,000 MKD depending on tier and venue), underwritten by grants and institutional support from the Film Agency of the Republic of North Macedonia, Creative Europe, the U.S. Department of State, and Balkan national film centers. The organization operates with 14 employees and serves three primary customer segments: documentary filmmakers and film professionals from the Balkans and internationally, students and educators across primary, secondary, and informal education channels, and documentary film enthusiasts and rural communities.

Name

MakeDox

Legal name

Association MakeDox

Website

https://makedox.mk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MakeDox is a North Macedonian non-profit operating the annual MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival in Skopje, serving Balkan filmmakers, students, educators, and rural communities through festival screenings, industry forums, traveling cinema, and education programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Film Festival

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

Keywords

• Documentary film festival
• Film education programs
• Mobile cinema screenings
• Co-production forum
• Documentary distribution network

Headquarters

HQ city

Skopje

HQ country

North Macedonia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Festival Ticket Sales: The organization generates revenue through ticket sales for festival screenings at multiple venues (Kurshumli An, Suli An, Youth Cultural Center, Kurshumli Out). Tickets range from 100-500 MKD for individual screenings, with festival passes available for 2000 MKD.
2. Festival Operations and Programming: Core programming includes the main festival, traveling cinema, education initiatives, and the MakeCoProDox Forum for documentary film professionals in the Balkans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MakeDox operates the annual MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia, featuring film screenings across multiple venues, jury awards (Onion Award, Young Onion, Sliced Onion, Onion Seed, Moral Approach Award), and industry programs. The organization complements the festival with the MakeCoProDox Forum for Balkan documentary co-productions, a Traveling Cinema program bringing documentary screenings to rural communities, and educational initiatives integrating documentary film into schools.

Product overview

MakeDox is a documentary film festival and cultural organization based in Skopje, North Macedonia, operating since 2010. The organization offers a multi-layered platform centered around the annual MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival, which includes film programs (Main Program, Newcomers, Short Dox, Student Dox, Kids and Youth), the MakeCoProDox Forum for regional industry development, and the Traveling Cinema initiative. Additional offerings include education programs (DocuSprouts film school, MakeDox in Classroom, MakeDox in Cinema, Youth Film Clubs, ACTive regional school, We Are Visual!, Widening the Lens) and distribution partnerships (Moving Docs, BDDN, FestDocs Network, Coffee and Onion). The portfolio operates as a unified cultural platform rather than a modular software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MakeCoProDox Forum: Regional platform supporting creative documentary projects from the Balkans through mentorship, project development, and international industry exchange.
• MakeDox Traveling Cinema
• MakeDox DocuSprouts
• Widening the Lens

Products and services

• MakeDox Festival Annual creative documentary film festival held in Skopje, North Macedonia, featuring film screenings (Main Program, Newcomers, Short Dox, Student Dox, Kids and Youth), awards (Onion Award, Young Onion Award, Sliced Onion, Onion Seed Award, Moral Approach Award), juries, and the MakeDox+ program including masterclasses, workshops, doc talks, and night story events.
• MakeCoProDox Forum Regional platform supporting creative documentary projects from the Balkans through mentorship, project development, pitching sessions, and international industry exchange, organized within the MakeDox Festival. Selects 10 feature-length documentary projects annually for mentorship and development support.
• Traveling Cinema Mobile documentary film screening initiative that travels to rural communities across North Macedonia, reaching over 13,000 people in more than 100 remote locations with open-air screenings via a donkey-powered caravan.
• DocuSprouts Year-long creative documentary film school educating 12-16 youths annually in documentary filmmaking, producing 3-5 short films per year.
• MakeDox in Classroom Program introducing documentary film into formal education with toolkits of 19 films for high school teachers, implemented by 140 trained teachers in 80 high schools reaching 30,000 students annually since 2013.
• MakeDox in Cinema Program sharing documentary stories with primary school pupils, having screened 75 films with nearly 15,000 primary school pupils in Skopje.
• ACTive Regional creative documentary film school for young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Serbia, producing 11 short documentaries with 30 participants.
• We Are Visual! (WAVE) Education and audiovisualization of human rights program with 12 documentary films and a handbook for formal and informal education, reaching 114 schools in 56 cities.
• Widening the Lens Cultural exchange project between MakeDox and Dallas Black Dance Theatre exploring African American and Romani cultural heritage through documentary film.
• Youth Film Clubs Media clubs in Macedonian cities (Skopje, Bitola, Resen, Debar, Gevgelija, Kumanovo, Veles, Kichevo, Negotino, Struga, Tetovo, Kratovo) hosting temporary cinemas and discussion forums for young people.
• Festival Archive Archive of festival catalogues and posters from 2010 to present, documenting annual festival editions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000+ students reached annually through classroom programs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Moving DocscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2017Partnership founded in 2017 for joint distribution of documentaries across Europe. MakeDox became a partner in this EDN initiative supported by Creative Europe. Partners include Against Gravity (Poland), ARTE (France), Autlook Film Sales (Austria), Berlin Documentary Film Club (Germany), CineDoc (Greece), Demiurg Distribucija (Slovenia), Doc Lounge (Sweden), DocPoppies (Belgium), Docs Barcelona (Spain), Doc.Fest Munich (Germany), DOXBiO (Denmark), European Documentary Network (Denmark), Five Stars Film Distribution (Serbia), Lemesos International Documentary Festival (Cyprus), Film and Campaign (UK), New Notions Cinema (UK), One World Human Rights Film Festival (Czech Republic), Rise and Shine Cinema (Germany), Take One Action Film Festivals (UK), Taskovki Films (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
• Balkan Documentary Distribution Network (BDDN)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork co-founded by MakeDox for documentary distribution in the Balkans. Members include Restart (Croatia), Free Zone and Delta Video (Serbia), DokuFest (Kosovo), UnderhillFest (Montenegro), Demiurg and Petra Pan (Slovenia).
• FestDocs NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNetwork started between German Doc.fest Munchen, French FIPADOC from Biarritz, Spanish DocsBarcelona, and MakeDox to bring films from France, Spain, Germany and the Balkans to audiences across borders.
• Dallas Black Dance TheatreflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for 'Widening the Lens' project created for African American dancers and Macedonian filmmakers to explore and preserve African American and Romani heritages through documentary film. Funded by U.S. Department of State and administered by World Learning through Communities Connecting Heritage program.
• Youth Educational ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Youth Film Clubs program. Media clubs established in Skopje, Bitola, Resen, Debar, Gevgelija, Kumanovo, Veles, Kichevo, Negotino, Struga, Tetovo and Kratovo to host temporary cinemas and discussion forums.
• Pravo Ljudski (Bosnia and Herzegovina)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partner for ACTive program - a creative documentary film school for young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.
• DokuFest (Kosovo)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partner for ACTive program - a creative documentary film school for young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.
• Film Agency of the Republic of North MacedoniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment film agency providing support for MakeDox's traveling cinema program and festival operations.
• North Macedonia Film AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational film agency; Veronika Buchkovska serves as Contact Person for International Communications. Supports MakeCoProDox Forum industry activities.
• Slovenian Film CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSlovenian national film center; Nika Gričar serves as Head of Film Development. Participates in MakeCoProDox Forum and Balkan Network.
• Croatian Audiovisual Center (HAVC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCroatian national film center; Chris Peter Marcich serves as CEO. Morana Ikic Komljenovic represents HAVC at MakeCoProDox Forum.
• Greek Film CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreek national film center; Yianna Sari serves as Director of Promotion at Hellas Film. Participates in Balkan film network.
• Kosovo Cinematography CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKosovo national film center; Blerta Zeqiri serves as Director. Participates in Balkan film network.
• National Film Center BulgariacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBulgarian national film center; Gergana Dakovska serves as National Representative of Eurimages. Member of Balkan Network.
• Film and Coffee KoturminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMultimedia venue collaboration for 'Coffee and Onion' screening program, featuring documentary screenings with food service.
• Solar Cinema NetworkflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network of solar-powered mobile cinemas. Collaboration for masterclass on decentralized cinema and democratizing access to art, bringing MakeDox's traveling cinema approach together with Solar Cinema's renewable energy initiatives.
• SupportKochaniminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal organization collaborating on traveling cinema screenings in Kochani region.
• National Center for Culture 'White Dawns' / 'Beli Mugri'minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCultural institution collaborating on traveling cinema programming.
• Municipality of KochaniminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLocal government partnership for traveling cinema events.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• DOK Leipzig: International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film in Germany. Comparable as a major European documentary festival with industry programming, but significantly larger in scale and brand recognition than MakeDox.
• CPH:DOX: Major international documentary film festival in Copenhagen, Denmark. Comparable as a leading European documentary festival with industry programs; MakeDox films have won its Tiger Award, indicating overlapping filmmaker pipeline.
• IDFA: International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. The world's largest documentary festival; serves as the global benchmark against which regional documentary festivals like MakeDox position themselves.

Direct peers

• UnderhillFest: Documentary film festival in Podgorica, Montenegro. Named as a MakeDox BDDN co-founder partner, operating with a similar regional documentary mission and scale.
• ZagrebDox: International documentary film festival in Zagreb, Croatia. Comparable as a regional documentary festival serving the Balkans with industry programming and filmmaker development tracks.
• Free Zone Film Festival: Belgrade-based documentary film festival in Serbia. Explicitly a MakeDox BDDN co-founder partner, serving the same Balkan documentary audience and filmmaker community.
• FIPADOC: International documentary film festival in Biarritz, France. Named as a MakeDox FestDocs Network partner, comparable as a European documentary festival with industry programs.
• DokuFest: Documentary and short film festival in Prizren, Kosovo. DokuFest is explicitly named as a MakeDox BDDN co-founder partner and targets the same Balkan documentary ecosystem, making it the most direct regional peer.
• DocsBarcelona: International documentary film festival in Barcelona, Spain. Named as a MakeDox FestDocs Network partner, comparable as a European documentary festival with cross-border programming.
• Sarajevo Film Festival: Major regional film festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Comparable in mission and Balkans focus, though broader in scope (fiction and documentary), and a relevant benchmark for regional festival prestige.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/makedox

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MakeDox