Zvonimir Maycug

Zvonimir Majcug (born 1959), better known by his pen name Zvonimir Maycug, is a Croatian film producer, director, screenwriter, actor, and writer. He is famous for producing the first Croatian and Yugoslav pornographic film Oaza(Oasis) in 1984, which was banned. His film Kalvarija(Calvary) also received notoriety. Zvonimir Maycug was born in Zvonik in 1959. In middle school, he participated in film and photographic extracurriculars. He completed his studies at the Zagreb Hotelier School. Then he unsuccessfully tried to enroll at the Zagreb Academy of Film Art to study film making. During his compulsory military service in the Yugoslav Army, he wrote the script for his first film, Ja sam tvoj Bog (I am Your God). Upon finishing service, he produced it in 1983, as the youngest film director in Yugoslavia. The film never entered popular distribution. After recording the hardcore pornographic film Oaza (Oasis) in 1984, he was sentenced to two years of parole and three months of prison if he made the same offense again. He recorded a different version in 1988 which had some success on the video market. He recorded Kalvarija (Calvary), the first Croatian gay film, in 1997. Actors in his films were amateurs and friends. He recorded his films with a low budget and took many roles in production.After recording Kalvarija, he was left bankrupt. He had to sell his own family house to cover the debts caused by producing the little distributed film. This stopped his production of the film Blago kralja Tomislava (The Treasure of King Tomislav), and a film adaptation of his novel Noć kada su umirale ruže (The Night the Roses Were Dying). He hasn't been involved in writing, publishing or film since. He used to paint while he was in high school, and started earning money off it in the 1990s. His work was primarily copies and commissions for the Catholic Church. He started painting under a pseudonym when the Church found out that he was convicted for creating pornography. During his life he also worked in journalism and erotic theater. He now works in catering and says that "film was always just a hobby for me". When asked if he will ever return to producing film, he says that maybe he will when his children grow up and he can't put anyone at risk with his financial decisions.