 Petrovich mainly worked in German cinema, but also collaborated with established directors in some 100 Hungarian, French, Spanish, Czechoslovakian and Hollywood movies.He was born Svetislav Petrović () on 1 January 1894 in Újvidék, Austria-Hungary, today Novi Sad in the Serbian province of Vojvodina.His father Mladen was a tailor who made uniforms for the Serbian army.