?Battles of Troy? is a study on the internal economy of today?s globalized cinema production, seen through the eyes of the lowest unit in the hierarchy of movie making - the extras. On focus here is the making of the Warner Bros Motion Picture ?Troy? (2004), and more specifically - the secret life of the extras in the movie. Starting in 2003 with a budget of 185 million dollars. Troy is one of the most expensive productions ever made. It interprets on screen Homer's Iliad. The project is based on the fact that 300 men from the ?specialized? extras in ?Troy? are Bulgarians. The Warner Bros project, executed by the British branch of the company, shot in UK, Malta and Mexico suddenly appeared to be in need of an elite group of extras that not only possessed the physical prowess necessary to convincingly stage the battle scenes, but also had a believably Mediterranean look. The perfect soldiers were recruited from the Sports Academy in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria and flown to the Mexican coast to spend 3 months in training and shooting massive battle scenes as background of the feats of arms of Eric Bana and Brad Pitt. This background is the subject of ?Battles of Troy?.

Krassimir Terziev (*1969) is an artist and organizer on contemporary arts and media culture. Lives and works in Sofia, BG, where he had graduated MA in Arts Academy in Sofia (1997). In 1998-2004 he has been chair (founding member) of interSpace Media Art Center.