Robert Knjaz attended the Ruđer Bošković Technical School in Zagreb. In 2001, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Zagreb, specializing in Marketing. In 2013, he completed an MA in Film and Television Directing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. He is married and the father of three children. His first job was at Dugave Cable Television, which he co-founded and co-owned.
In 1995, Knjaz moved to OTV, where he hosted the show “Serbus Zagreb” (Hello, Zagreb) and later became the host and creator of “Zaleđe” (Offside). After some time, he also took on the role of programme director. In 1999, he joined the Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), where he worked on the program “Svlačionica” (Locker Room) and initiated “Nogometna televizija” (Football Television). During this period, he also wrote a regular column titled “Četiri uha – dva trbuha” (Four Ears – Two Stomachs) for the weekly magazine Globus and hosted the radio show “Kod dva jablana” (Under the Two Poplars) on Radio 101. He was awarded a State Department scholarship, which allowed him to undertake a year-long professional journalism training program at New Mexico State University in the United States. Upon returning to Croatia, he transitioned to RTL Television.
Knjaz’s first project at RTL was the football travel series “U Paklu Portugala 2” (Portugal’s Inferno 2), filmed before and during the 2004 UEFA European Football Championship in Portugal. There were six episodes in total. Following this, in autumn 2004, he began filming “Mjenjačnica” (The Exchange), in which public figures swapped lives with so-called “ordinary people” for a day. After two seasons of the show, Knjaz created the travel show “Koledžicom po svijetu” (Around the World in Loafers), for which he received the “Večernjakov ekran” Award for the most original programme. The show was also a finalist for the prestigious “Rose d’Or” Award for Best European Entertainment Programme. At RTL, Knjaz also created “Najveći hrvatski misteriji” (The Greatest Croatian Mysteries). Among his many accolades, the “Marija Jurić Zagorka” Award for the talk show “Zaleđe” and the HRT Annual Award for “Svlačionica” stand out. In 2010, Knjaz returned to HRT, where he frequently worked as a director and producer for shows such as “Rekonstrukcija” (Reconstruction), “Svlačionica 2”, “I to je Hrvatska” (And This is Croatia), “Klasici narodu” (Classics to the People), and “Hrvatski velikani” (Croatia’s Greatest Figures). In 2023, at the “Zlatni studio” Awards, he was named TV Journalist of the Year.
Robert Knjaz is the founder and owner of the television and film production company Sirovina i sinovi. He has also signed a contract with the Discovery Channel Group, which represents some of his show formats at the international level. Apart from television, Knjaz has worked as a lecturer at the private university VERN’, teaching the course “Innovative TV Formats.” He has produced over 300 commissioned films for prominent companies such as T-Com, Atlantic Grupa, A1, Zagrebačka pivovara (Zagreb Brewery), TDR, Spar, DM, and others.
Awards and Recognitions:
1993 – First Prize from the Croatian Film Association for the short films “Umjetnik na frontu” (The Artist at the Front) and “Pioniri” (Pioneers)
1998 – Marija Jurić Zagorka Award from the Croatian Journalists’ Association for the talk show “Zaleđe”
2002 – HRT Annual Award for the show “Svlačionica”
2005 – Special award from the Croatian Journalists’ Association for “advancing journalistic expression”
2008 – “Večernjakov ekran” Award for the most original programme, “Koledžicom po svijetu”
2008 – Finalist for the “Rose d’Or” in Lucerne, Switzerland, for Best European Entertainment Program (“Koledžicom po svijetu”)
2011 – Award for script and production for the student short film “Gostovanje” (The Guest Appearance) at the FRKA Festival, Academy of Dramatic Arts, Zagreb
2023 – “Zlatni studio” Award for TV Journalist of the Year
