In an unprecedented move, 21 unions as well as leading figures from the Italian cinema industry joined forces on Friday (April 5) to voice their concerns about challenges in accessing public funding that have brought film and high-end TV production to a standstill in the country.
“Never have I seen in my long career a unity such as this in the Italian industry,” veteran director Marco Bellocchio said on stage at a crowded event that filled several screening rooms of the Cinema Adriano in Rome. Directors such as Paolo Sorrentino, Paolo Virzì and Fabrizio Gifuni also attended, alongside several actors and producers.
“Never have I seen in my long career a unity such as this in the Italian industry,” veteran director Marco Bellocchio said on stage at a crowded event that filled several screening rooms of the Cinema Adriano in Rome. Directors such as Paolo Sorrentino, Paolo Virzì and Fabrizio Gifuni also attended, alongside several actors and producers.
- 4/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Italian film and TV orgs will hold an emergency press conference in Rome next week to discuss the damage being done to their sectors by uncertainty over the future of direct funding and tax credits.
The meeting on April 5 in Rome’s Cinema Adriano will gather the members of 14 professional bodies including filmmakers’ org 100 Autori, producer groups Anica and Agici, Cartoon Italia and the actors’ association Unita.
“The first quarter of 2024 saw an abrupt halt in film and audiovisual production, due to uncertainty and the continued delay in the implementation of public support measures for the sector,” said the film and TV orgs in a statement announcing the conference.
Italy’s right-wing government has been making noises for months about its reform of the country’s Cinema Law, first mooted prior to its arrival in power in 2022.
The legislation covers direct film and TV funding, as well as the 40% tax...
The meeting on April 5 in Rome’s Cinema Adriano will gather the members of 14 professional bodies including filmmakers’ org 100 Autori, producer groups Anica and Agici, Cartoon Italia and the actors’ association Unita.
“The first quarter of 2024 saw an abrupt halt in film and audiovisual production, due to uncertainty and the continued delay in the implementation of public support measures for the sector,” said the film and TV orgs in a statement announcing the conference.
Italy’s right-wing government has been making noises for months about its reform of the country’s Cinema Law, first mooted prior to its arrival in power in 2022.
The legislation covers direct film and TV funding, as well as the 40% tax...
- 3/29/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian actress Sandra Milo, who was best known for her supporting roles in Federico Fellini’s Oscar winner 8 ½ and Golden Globe winner Juliet of the Spirits, has died at the age of 90.
Born in Tunisia to Italian parents in 1933, Milo grew up in Tuscany.
She got her first big screen break in 1955 opposite Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s comedy The Bachelor.
Milo’s career quickly took off with roles in Roberto Rossellini’s General Della Rovere, Pietrangeli’s Hungry for Love, Edouard Molinaro’s Witness in the City and Claude Sautet’s The Big Risk over the course of the late 1950s.
It briefly hit the buffers in 1961 when her performance in Rosselini’s Stendhal adaptation Vanina Vanni was brutally panned by critics at the Venice Film Festival, but Milo returned to the set and went on to rack up more than 80 credits across her 70-year career.
Internationally, Milo...
Born in Tunisia to Italian parents in 1933, Milo grew up in Tuscany.
She got her first big screen break in 1955 opposite Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s comedy The Bachelor.
Milo’s career quickly took off with roles in Roberto Rossellini’s General Della Rovere, Pietrangeli’s Hungry for Love, Edouard Molinaro’s Witness in the City and Claude Sautet’s The Big Risk over the course of the late 1950s.
It briefly hit the buffers in 1961 when her performance in Rosselini’s Stendhal adaptation Vanina Vanni was brutally panned by critics at the Venice Film Festival, but Milo returned to the set and went on to rack up more than 80 credits across her 70-year career.
Internationally, Milo...
- 1/29/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian actor Sandra Milo, known for memorable roles in Federico Fellini’s “8½” and “Juliet of the Spirits” as well as her work with Roberto Rossellini, died on Monday at her Rome home. She was 90.
News of Milo’s death was announced on social media by her daughters, Debora and Azzurra, and son Ciro, who said Milo died in her sleep on Monday morning.
Italian deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni mourned the passing of Milo as the loss of a “protagonist of Italian cinema … a great, talented artist with an overwhelming charisma” and “the muse of great directors such as Federico Fellini who won the hearts of millions of Italians.”
Milo, whose work spanned several genres, made her big screen debut in 1955 alongside popular comic actor Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s “Lo Scapolo” (“The Bachelor”). Other comedies followed such as “Totò in the Moon” (“Totò Nella Luna”), one of...
News of Milo’s death was announced on social media by her daughters, Debora and Azzurra, and son Ciro, who said Milo died in her sleep on Monday morning.
Italian deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni mourned the passing of Milo as the loss of a “protagonist of Italian cinema … a great, talented artist with an overwhelming charisma” and “the muse of great directors such as Federico Fellini who won the hearts of millions of Italians.”
Milo, whose work spanned several genres, made her big screen debut in 1955 alongside popular comic actor Alberto Sordi in Antonio Pietrangeli’s “Lo Scapolo” (“The Bachelor”). Other comedies followed such as “Totò in the Moon” (“Totò Nella Luna”), one of...
- 1/29/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Culture minister talks cuts after state funding for film soared to €800m in 2022
Italy is to cut the €800m of funding it currently earmarks for film production per year, according to Italian minister of culture Italian Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The move comes at a time when Italy is producing a high number of Italian and international films. However, Italian films are continuing to underperform at the box office compared to the pre-pandemic era.
“It’s time to intervene,” Sangiuliano said, noting that state funding for film soared from €400m in 2019 to €800m in 2022 according to data from the Investments in Cinema and Audiovisual Development Fund.
Italy is to cut the €800m of funding it currently earmarks for film production per year, according to Italian minister of culture Italian Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The move comes at a time when Italy is producing a high number of Italian and international films. However, Italian films are continuing to underperform at the box office compared to the pre-pandemic era.
“It’s time to intervene,” Sangiuliano said, noting that state funding for film soared from €400m in 2019 to €800m in 2022 according to data from the Investments in Cinema and Audiovisual Development Fund.
- 10/23/2023
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
Investment in original content production continues to grow in Italy where resources across all genres reached a total of €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) thanks to increased investments from U.S. streamers. But linear TV remains the Italian industry’s main driver.
That’s the main takeaway from the annual report on local production presented on Friday by Italy’s TV producers’ association APA at Rome’s Mia market
The $1.9 billion pot of cash poured into Italian productions of all types in 2022 represented only a small increase over 2021, which is when local originals were boosted by a 55% post-pandemic growth spurt, according to figures from the APA report.
Film and TV product currently account for 55% of these investments with an increase in resources now going into documentaries and animation product mostly destined for streaming play.
“The constantly growing investment from streamers is currently worth almost a third of the total TV market,” said APA chief Chiara Sbarigia.
That’s the main takeaway from the annual report on local production presented on Friday by Italy’s TV producers’ association APA at Rome’s Mia market
The $1.9 billion pot of cash poured into Italian productions of all types in 2022 represented only a small increase over 2021, which is when local originals were boosted by a 55% post-pandemic growth spurt, according to figures from the APA report.
Film and TV product currently account for 55% of these investments with an increase in resources now going into documentaries and animation product mostly destined for streaming play.
“The constantly growing investment from streamers is currently worth almost a third of the total TV market,” said APA chief Chiara Sbarigia.
- 10/13/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Spend on Italian TV and film productions shot upwards by 28% to €1.8B ($1.9B) last year, the latest report into the country’s sector revealed today.
Closing the Mia Market, the likes of Audiovisual Producers Association (APA)/Cinecittà President Chiara Sbarigia, Netflix Italy boss Tinny Andreatta and Ministry of Culture Undersecretary Lucia Borgonzoni presented the APA research, which took in Italian TV and film investment in the 2022 calendar year and is the fifth of its kind.
The report showed that the total value of investments in original Italian productions across genre was €1.8B, up from around €1.4B, with more than half of this figure made up by spend on linear platforms such as national pubcaster Rai.
Sbarigia pointed out that the “steady growth” of online spend is now worth almost a third of overall TV spend, while there has been “significant boost in documentaries and animation, mainly in the VoD segment...
Closing the Mia Market, the likes of Audiovisual Producers Association (APA)/Cinecittà President Chiara Sbarigia, Netflix Italy boss Tinny Andreatta and Ministry of Culture Undersecretary Lucia Borgonzoni presented the APA research, which took in Italian TV and film investment in the 2022 calendar year and is the fifth of its kind.
The report showed that the total value of investments in original Italian productions across genre was €1.8B, up from around €1.4B, with more than half of this figure made up by spend on linear platforms such as national pubcaster Rai.
Sbarigia pointed out that the “steady growth” of online spend is now worth almost a third of overall TV spend, while there has been “significant boost in documentaries and animation, mainly in the VoD segment...
- 10/13/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Strong release slate, younger audiences, event screenings, more summer releases and government initiatives have boosted Italian exhibitors.
Italy’s box office is finally sparking back to life and starting to pull out of its post-pandemic doldrums. Exhibitors in the country grossed €221.4m in the first six months of this year, a 57.2% increase compared to the same period in 2022 according to Italian box office company Cinetel.
The success is being driven by a strong release slate, younger audiences, event screenings, more summer releases and government initiatives to support cinemagoing, experts said. Admissions in the first half of the year soared to 31.6 million,...
Italy’s box office is finally sparking back to life and starting to pull out of its post-pandemic doldrums. Exhibitors in the country grossed €221.4m in the first six months of this year, a 57.2% increase compared to the same period in 2022 according to Italian box office company Cinetel.
The success is being driven by a strong release slate, younger audiences, event screenings, more summer releases and government initiatives to support cinemagoing, experts said. Admissions in the first half of the year soared to 31.6 million,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
Italy has just hosted Summit for US and French producers, is taking major delegation to Tokyo Film Festival and will be Country in Focus at Berlinale’s EFM.
Italy has embarked on a major campaign to promote its filmmakers and movies around the world and to attract international productions to the country.
Last week, the country hosted the Audiovisual Producer’s Summit in Trieste, inviting leading US producers and studio executives as well as a significant French delegation to meet with Italian producers and industry figures. This follows Italy being the guest of honour at Mexico’s Guadalajara Film Festival in June.
Italy has embarked on a major campaign to promote its filmmakers and movies around the world and to attract international productions to the country.
Last week, the country hosted the Audiovisual Producer’s Summit in Trieste, inviting leading US producers and studio executives as well as a significant French delegation to meet with Italian producers and industry figures. This follows Italy being the guest of honour at Mexico’s Guadalajara Film Festival in June.
- 7/28/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Deputy culture minister tells Screen she wants to make tax credit applicable to content created by humans rather than AI.
The Italian government is working on reforms to its 40% tax credit for film and TV series.
Speaking to Screen at the Audiovisual Producers Summit in Trieste, deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni stressed Italy was not looking to amend the headline 40% rate on offer to productions but wanted to “raise the quality level” of projects securing the credit.
Italy’s 40% tax credit has proved a big draw for international shoots, this year including films such as Edward Berger’s Conclave and...
The Italian government is working on reforms to its 40% tax credit for film and TV series.
Speaking to Screen at the Audiovisual Producers Summit in Trieste, deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni stressed Italy was not looking to amend the headline 40% rate on offer to productions but wanted to “raise the quality level” of projects securing the credit.
Italy’s 40% tax credit has proved a big draw for international shoots, this year including films such as Edward Berger’s Conclave and...
- 7/20/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Deputy culture minister tells Screen she wants to make tax credit applicable to content created by humans rather than AI.
The Italian government is working on reforms to its 40% tax credit for film and TV series.
Speaking to Screen at the Audiovisual Producers Summit in Trieste, deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni stressed that Italy was not looking to amend the headline 40% rate on offer to productions but wanted to “raise the quality level” of projects securing the credit.
Italy’s 40% tax credit has proved a big draw for international shoots, this year including films such as Edward Berger’s Conclave...
The Italian government is working on reforms to its 40% tax credit for film and TV series.
Speaking to Screen at the Audiovisual Producers Summit in Trieste, deputy culture minister Lucia Borgonzoni stressed that Italy was not looking to amend the headline 40% rate on offer to productions but wanted to “raise the quality level” of projects securing the credit.
Italy’s 40% tax credit has proved a big draw for international shoots, this year including films such as Edward Berger’s Conclave...
- 7/20/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival that kicks off Italy’s summer moviegoing season will play a prominent role in the ongoing push to lure Italians back into movie theaters, just as the country’s box office is starting to gain traction.
A robust roster of talents from Hollywood and Italy and a solid lineup of premieres are booked for this event, which combines film and TV and unspools June 22-25 in the Forte Village resort near Cagliari, capital of Sardegna (Sardinia in English). The fest is set to take place just as the Italian government starts to invest €20 million ($22 million) to promote moviegoing through a campaign called Cinema Revolution, under which cinema tickets will be half-price for a limited time.
“While in past years I struggled to find films, this time around I have 50 titles,” notes Tiziana Rocca, the marketing guru and former Taormina Film Festival chief who launched the Sardinia event six years ago.
A robust roster of talents from Hollywood and Italy and a solid lineup of premieres are booked for this event, which combines film and TV and unspools June 22-25 in the Forte Village resort near Cagliari, capital of Sardegna (Sardinia in English). The fest is set to take place just as the Italian government starts to invest €20 million ($22 million) to promote moviegoing through a campaign called Cinema Revolution, under which cinema tickets will be half-price for a limited time.
“While in past years I struggled to find films, this time around I have 50 titles,” notes Tiziana Rocca, the marketing guru and former Taormina Film Festival chief who launched the Sardinia event six years ago.
- 6/22/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
An oft-heard lament on the part of international distribution is that Italy is impossible to program in the summer. In 2019, there was an effort on the part of the studios and the local industry to steer the season in a different direction resulting in record results, but the pandemic halted momentum.
Related: CinemaCon 2023 – Deadline’s Full Coverage
At the end of 2022, one of the major areas of concern from studio executives we spoke with was indeed Italy. The market was down about 50% on the pre-pandemic average. Among reasons cited for its woes were a lack of big local releases, poor infrastructure and a dearth of PLFs. “Oh, my God, Italy!,” exclaimed one international distribution honcho at the time.
Now, a plan is afoot to jump-start summer again, with the Culture Ministry earmarking €20 million ($22M) as part of a promotional campaign to bring audiences back to the cinemas. The ministry’s Undersecretary of State,...
Related: CinemaCon 2023 – Deadline’s Full Coverage
At the end of 2022, one of the major areas of concern from studio executives we spoke with was indeed Italy. The market was down about 50% on the pre-pandemic average. Among reasons cited for its woes were a lack of big local releases, poor infrastructure and a dearth of PLFs. “Oh, my God, Italy!,” exclaimed one international distribution honcho at the time.
Now, a plan is afoot to jump-start summer again, with the Culture Ministry earmarking €20 million ($22M) as part of a promotional campaign to bring audiences back to the cinemas. The ministry’s Undersecretary of State,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Audiences can watch Italian and European productions at approximately half price.
The Italian government has unveiled a €20m initiative to subsidise cinemagoing over the summer months in a bid to bolster the local industry.
The initiative will offer half-price tickets and will be launched on June 16 and will run until September 16.
Italy’s exhibitors are still struggling to recover ground lost during the pandemic. Italian box office grossed €306.6m in 2022, down a massive 48.2% compared to the 2017-2019 average, according to figures from Italian distributors’ association Anica.
The theatrical sector sees the initiative as “a substantial investment in the summer months,...
The Italian government has unveiled a €20m initiative to subsidise cinemagoing over the summer months in a bid to bolster the local industry.
The initiative will offer half-price tickets and will be launched on June 16 and will run until September 16.
Italy’s exhibitors are still struggling to recover ground lost during the pandemic. Italian box office grossed €306.6m in 2022, down a massive 48.2% compared to the 2017-2019 average, according to figures from Italian distributors’ association Anica.
The theatrical sector sees the initiative as “a substantial investment in the summer months,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
For decades, Italy’s box office has suffered the summertime blues due to a scarcity of blockbusters from the Hollywood studios, which noted that Italian audiences were more interested in going to the beach than a movie theater. However, that is changing.
The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, which runs June 13-16 and is Italy’s single start of summer event, is perfectly positioned to become a prime driver for this crucial seasonal push.
“I’ve been saying for years that summer festivals should promote summer releases,” says Tiziana Rocca, who launched the fest on the island of Sardinia in Italy last year.
Italy’s push for summer releases is the result of a joint effort between the studios and all sectors of Italy’s film industry, largely prompted by the government that recently got all sides to sit at the table and agree to remove this anomaly that was causing...
The Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, which runs June 13-16 and is Italy’s single start of summer event, is perfectly positioned to become a prime driver for this crucial seasonal push.
“I’ve been saying for years that summer festivals should promote summer releases,” says Tiziana Rocca, who launched the fest on the island of Sardinia in Italy last year.
Italy’s push for summer releases is the result of a joint effort between the studios and all sectors of Italy’s film industry, largely prompted by the government that recently got all sides to sit at the table and agree to remove this anomaly that was causing...
- 6/13/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
With 15 nominations Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman” leads the pack of contenders for Italy’s David di Donatello Awards in a watershed year for the country’s top film nods that sees highbrow auteur titles reaping most of the David love just as local box-office grosses hit an all-time low.
Garrone’s gritty revenge drama is followed closely with 13 noms by Mario Martone’s “Capri Revolution,” about early 20th-century proto-hippies, and by Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” (released late in Italy), and Paolo Sorrentino’s Berlusconi biopic “Loro,” both with 12 noms. Sorrentino however, unlike his colleagues, is not in the running for best picture or director.
Then comes Alice Rohrwacher’s pastoral fable on the ills of modernity “Happy as Lazzaro” and also police brutality drama “On My Skin” by newcomer Alessio Cremonini, both with nine noms and running in the main categories. Valeria Golino’s sibling bonding drama “Euphoria,...
Garrone’s gritty revenge drama is followed closely with 13 noms by Mario Martone’s “Capri Revolution,” about early 20th-century proto-hippies, and by Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” (released late in Italy), and Paolo Sorrentino’s Berlusconi biopic “Loro,” both with 12 noms. Sorrentino however, unlike his colleagues, is not in the running for best picture or director.
Then comes Alice Rohrwacher’s pastoral fable on the ills of modernity “Happy as Lazzaro” and also police brutality drama “On My Skin” by newcomer Alessio Cremonini, both with nine noms and running in the main categories. Valeria Golino’s sibling bonding drama “Euphoria,...
- 3/25/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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