Fremantle kicked off its presence at the Venice Film Festival with a bang this year with the announcement of its new €150M ($162.7M) Scripted Fund forged in partnership with Israel-based Ibi Investment House.
The fund is reserved exclusively for select projects being developed by Fremantle’s stable of scripted drama companies, which include UK’s Dancing Ledge and Element Pictures, Italy’s The Apartment, Wildside and Lux Vide, as well as The Immigrant, specialized in Latin America and Spanish content.
First projects backed by the fund include previously announced feature Maria, the high-profile Maria Callas biopic, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larraín, who is at Venice this year with Augusto Pinochet dark comedy/horror El Conde.
Two newly unveiled series will also benefit: the four-part thriller Generation Loss, written by Bridgerton’s Sarah Dollard, and six-part revenge thriller Shelter, to which Jeremy Webb is attached to direct.
Fremantle is not involved in Larrain’s Netflix-backed El Conde but is present instead with five other Golden Lion contenders, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ buzzed about Poor Things, Stefano Sollima’s well-reviewed Adagio, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Salvatore Costanzo’s 1950s Cinecittà drama Finally Dawn, and Pietro Castellitto’s Enea
In a sign of a growing presence in the film world, the company is basing itself out of a vast beachfront villa just down the road from the festival’s main hub for the first time this year.
Deadline sat down with top Fremantle execs, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati and CEO Global Drama Christian Vesper, in the peace of its lawned garden to discuss the genesis and implications of the new scripted fund.
Deadline: How did Fremantle connect with Ibi Investment House?
Scrosati: It came to us through our CEO in Israel Guy Hameiri, who is also going to be the CEO of the fund. He runs our company there [Abot Hameiri), which we initially invested in and then bought out two years ago.
He came to me around like nine months ago, saying that the leadership in Ibi was interested in finding a way to invest in scripted content. Together, we developed this model that I think is pretty new.
Deadline: What do you mean by new? There are other funds in existence investing in scripted content.
Andrea Scrosati: I think the interesting component here is that it’s a financial institution partnering with a content production company. The projects can only come from Fremantle. So that’s the intriguing component, for us. Then, this fund will fully finance those projects, which is also rare, especially for TV. To have a self-funded studio kind of model on drama is slightly rare. And then Fremantle will go out and sell.
Deadline: What encouraged you to go down this route?
Scrosati: It’s coherent with our strategic positioning. Talent has a lot of opportunity choices… but to super simplify, there are two key potential choices. One, talent signs a deal with a big direct-to-consumer operation. It’s an absolutely a fine choice. But obviously, what happens is that the talent then has to deliver results that are coherent with the platform that needs to sell the subscriptions.
Our approach to talent is different. We say, ‘We’re going to focus on your project, we’re going to support your project, we’re going to potentially finance or risk on your project, and then we’re going to find the right home for your project, because not every project is okay for every place.’ This new device helps us with this strategic positioning.
There is a tactical component because of where the market is today. Big traditional buyers didn’t stop buying but are for sure on a slower kind of pace. We strongly believe that good content has a future. I’m very positive about where the market is going to be in three or four years from today. In every market there’s growth, and then an adjustment.
The problem with where the market is today is that there are great opportunities, sometimes that involve great talent, but they have a time component and you risk not doing those projects if you’re waiting for the green light from Apple, Disney, Netflix, or Amazon.
Deadline: If the commissioning contraction hadn’t happened would you still have gone down this route?
Scrosati: Yes, for the strategic reason I mentioned.
Christian Vesper: Not Maria, because Maria is a film and starts very soon. And that was a different calculation. But for the two TV shows that we discuss in the [press] release, part of the consideration there was we believe in the projects. We know there’s a market for them but the talent attached has a discrete window, and so much of our business model has been based on how we bring in talent. How do we service our talent? Our job is to help them get their shows made and on the air. And this gives us one more powerful tool for doing that.
Deadline: Will the new fund change the way you deal with the broadcasters and streamers ?
Scrosati: The buyers are our partners. These shows will go to a client or a streamer. The fund is simply a way to accelerate the production time schedule. The buyer will be able to access a product when it is actually already in production or is already produced.
Vesper: One of our best clients in the UK is struggling now with some of their bigger shows. Even if they’ve greenlit them, they can’t find the financing for the rest of the budget. This is partly to step into that void. The networks, the linears and the public broadcasters, they’re struggling to fulfill all their programming needs with the resources they have and this provides yet one more avenue to do that.
Deadline: Can the fund be accessed by all the companies producing scripted content under the Fremantle umbrella?
Scrosati: Yes, as you can see with the first three projects. One of them is taking place in Israel, one in in UK, and one is a Chilean-Italian co-production, shot in Hungary. It’s going to be fantastically global.
Deadline: You have set yourselves the target of a €3B turnover by 2025. Do you think that’s realistic? And why have you set yourself this goal?
Scrosati: The goal was set by our shareholders… I’ve worked for a few different shareholders over the course of my career. The thing I’ve found incredibly strong is that Bertelsmann and Rtl have set a goal but have also given us all the support and instruments to reach that goal. It is a very ambitious goal because obviously the company was doing a very different number three years ago, but again they have given us all the support.
One thing, which is really important to say, is that the growth we have done in the last few years has been a been a mix of M&a and organic growth. This growth is not simply because we are acquiring companies, but rather because we are diversifying and creating a business portfolio. An example of this, is that five years ago, we were delivering two movies a year, and last year, we delivered 17, and with the exception of Element, which is an acquisition, all these movies come from companies that were already part of Fremantle.
Vesper: When I joined the company, Wildside was already a crucial part of the company, and I’ve been here six years now and the growth there is all organic and extraordinary.
Scrosati: The M&a we’ve done is all part of strategic plans. It’s been about acquiring companies that were best in class in a sector where we were not present. Element is a fantastic example of that. We did not have an English language, movie production company. Or, best in class in potentially growing regions where we were not present. We invested in Latin American company The Immigrant a few years ago when it was a start-up. It now has three productions on the go and its first movie Adolfo won the Generation 14 Plus prize in Berlin.
Vesper: One of our companies in England, Dancing Ledge, is hitting it out of the park in terms of the number of series they have on BBC and all the platforms. Like The Immigrant, we invested in them when they had done nothing. It’s not like we’re buying revenue. A lot of the M&a is investment in the future.
Deadline: Do you plan to keep up the pace of scripted company acquisitions of the last three years, or is that calming down?
Scrosati: In line with what we were just saying, If there is something that is coherent with our growth, in areas where we’re still not present, or there is a company or creative team that we really think has potential, we will still invest. The other component is the cultural element. We are a big company but we’re very lean. The scripted management team is basically in front of you. The only way it can work is if we see can see an element where it will work intellectually and culturally.
Deadline: Do you have further growth plans for scripted in the U.S.?
Scrosati: It’s our first territory. The company’s core business is still the entertainment and unscripted business and the U.S. is a massive territory for us for that. In addition, Dante di Loreto is leading the scripted team and has a lot going on.
Vesper: We have a show, Fellow Travellers, coming out on Paramount+ at the end of September. It’s a big mini-series with Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams, that was developed with Showtime and that we produced for them. Six-part, gorgeous, about the gay panic in the CIA in the 50s. We also produced two seasons of Mosquito Coast for Apple.
We have a number of big shows that we’re about to announce. What’s interesting is that we have a couple of projects that the U.S. have set up to shoot here (Europe), and vice versa. We’re trying to make sure that our European producers have the resources in the U.S., and the other way round. We’re constantly strategizing about this, it’s important for us to continue to build that business in the U.S..
The fund is reserved exclusively for select projects being developed by Fremantle’s stable of scripted drama companies, which include UK’s Dancing Ledge and Element Pictures, Italy’s The Apartment, Wildside and Lux Vide, as well as The Immigrant, specialized in Latin America and Spanish content.
First projects backed by the fund include previously announced feature Maria, the high-profile Maria Callas biopic, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larraín, who is at Venice this year with Augusto Pinochet dark comedy/horror El Conde.
Two newly unveiled series will also benefit: the four-part thriller Generation Loss, written by Bridgerton’s Sarah Dollard, and six-part revenge thriller Shelter, to which Jeremy Webb is attached to direct.
Fremantle is not involved in Larrain’s Netflix-backed El Conde but is present instead with five other Golden Lion contenders, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ buzzed about Poor Things, Stefano Sollima’s well-reviewed Adagio, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Salvatore Costanzo’s 1950s Cinecittà drama Finally Dawn, and Pietro Castellitto’s Enea
In a sign of a growing presence in the film world, the company is basing itself out of a vast beachfront villa just down the road from the festival’s main hub for the first time this year.
Deadline sat down with top Fremantle execs, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati and CEO Global Drama Christian Vesper, in the peace of its lawned garden to discuss the genesis and implications of the new scripted fund.
Deadline: How did Fremantle connect with Ibi Investment House?
Scrosati: It came to us through our CEO in Israel Guy Hameiri, who is also going to be the CEO of the fund. He runs our company there [Abot Hameiri), which we initially invested in and then bought out two years ago.
He came to me around like nine months ago, saying that the leadership in Ibi was interested in finding a way to invest in scripted content. Together, we developed this model that I think is pretty new.
Deadline: What do you mean by new? There are other funds in existence investing in scripted content.
Andrea Scrosati: I think the interesting component here is that it’s a financial institution partnering with a content production company. The projects can only come from Fremantle. So that’s the intriguing component, for us. Then, this fund will fully finance those projects, which is also rare, especially for TV. To have a self-funded studio kind of model on drama is slightly rare. And then Fremantle will go out and sell.
Deadline: What encouraged you to go down this route?
Scrosati: It’s coherent with our strategic positioning. Talent has a lot of opportunity choices… but to super simplify, there are two key potential choices. One, talent signs a deal with a big direct-to-consumer operation. It’s an absolutely a fine choice. But obviously, what happens is that the talent then has to deliver results that are coherent with the platform that needs to sell the subscriptions.
Our approach to talent is different. We say, ‘We’re going to focus on your project, we’re going to support your project, we’re going to potentially finance or risk on your project, and then we’re going to find the right home for your project, because not every project is okay for every place.’ This new device helps us with this strategic positioning.
There is a tactical component because of where the market is today. Big traditional buyers didn’t stop buying but are for sure on a slower kind of pace. We strongly believe that good content has a future. I’m very positive about where the market is going to be in three or four years from today. In every market there’s growth, and then an adjustment.
The problem with where the market is today is that there are great opportunities, sometimes that involve great talent, but they have a time component and you risk not doing those projects if you’re waiting for the green light from Apple, Disney, Netflix, or Amazon.
Deadline: If the commissioning contraction hadn’t happened would you still have gone down this route?
Scrosati: Yes, for the strategic reason I mentioned.
Christian Vesper: Not Maria, because Maria is a film and starts very soon. And that was a different calculation. But for the two TV shows that we discuss in the [press] release, part of the consideration there was we believe in the projects. We know there’s a market for them but the talent attached has a discrete window, and so much of our business model has been based on how we bring in talent. How do we service our talent? Our job is to help them get their shows made and on the air. And this gives us one more powerful tool for doing that.
Deadline: Will the new fund change the way you deal with the broadcasters and streamers ?
Scrosati: The buyers are our partners. These shows will go to a client or a streamer. The fund is simply a way to accelerate the production time schedule. The buyer will be able to access a product when it is actually already in production or is already produced.
Vesper: One of our best clients in the UK is struggling now with some of their bigger shows. Even if they’ve greenlit them, they can’t find the financing for the rest of the budget. This is partly to step into that void. The networks, the linears and the public broadcasters, they’re struggling to fulfill all their programming needs with the resources they have and this provides yet one more avenue to do that.
Deadline: Can the fund be accessed by all the companies producing scripted content under the Fremantle umbrella?
Scrosati: Yes, as you can see with the first three projects. One of them is taking place in Israel, one in in UK, and one is a Chilean-Italian co-production, shot in Hungary. It’s going to be fantastically global.
Deadline: You have set yourselves the target of a €3B turnover by 2025. Do you think that’s realistic? And why have you set yourself this goal?
Scrosati: The goal was set by our shareholders… I’ve worked for a few different shareholders over the course of my career. The thing I’ve found incredibly strong is that Bertelsmann and Rtl have set a goal but have also given us all the support and instruments to reach that goal. It is a very ambitious goal because obviously the company was doing a very different number three years ago, but again they have given us all the support.
One thing, which is really important to say, is that the growth we have done in the last few years has been a been a mix of M&a and organic growth. This growth is not simply because we are acquiring companies, but rather because we are diversifying and creating a business portfolio. An example of this, is that five years ago, we were delivering two movies a year, and last year, we delivered 17, and with the exception of Element, which is an acquisition, all these movies come from companies that were already part of Fremantle.
Vesper: When I joined the company, Wildside was already a crucial part of the company, and I’ve been here six years now and the growth there is all organic and extraordinary.
Scrosati: The M&a we’ve done is all part of strategic plans. It’s been about acquiring companies that were best in class in a sector where we were not present. Element is a fantastic example of that. We did not have an English language, movie production company. Or, best in class in potentially growing regions where we were not present. We invested in Latin American company The Immigrant a few years ago when it was a start-up. It now has three productions on the go and its first movie Adolfo won the Generation 14 Plus prize in Berlin.
Vesper: One of our companies in England, Dancing Ledge, is hitting it out of the park in terms of the number of series they have on BBC and all the platforms. Like The Immigrant, we invested in them when they had done nothing. It’s not like we’re buying revenue. A lot of the M&a is investment in the future.
Deadline: Do you plan to keep up the pace of scripted company acquisitions of the last three years, or is that calming down?
Scrosati: In line with what we were just saying, If there is something that is coherent with our growth, in areas where we’re still not present, or there is a company or creative team that we really think has potential, we will still invest. The other component is the cultural element. We are a big company but we’re very lean. The scripted management team is basically in front of you. The only way it can work is if we see can see an element where it will work intellectually and culturally.
Deadline: Do you have further growth plans for scripted in the U.S.?
Scrosati: It’s our first territory. The company’s core business is still the entertainment and unscripted business and the U.S. is a massive territory for us for that. In addition, Dante di Loreto is leading the scripted team and has a lot going on.
Vesper: We have a show, Fellow Travellers, coming out on Paramount+ at the end of September. It’s a big mini-series with Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams, that was developed with Showtime and that we produced for them. Six-part, gorgeous, about the gay panic in the CIA in the 50s. We also produced two seasons of Mosquito Coast for Apple.
We have a number of big shows that we’re about to announce. What’s interesting is that we have a couple of projects that the U.S. have set up to shoot here (Europe), and vice versa. We’re trying to make sure that our European producers have the resources in the U.S., and the other way round. We’re constantly strategizing about this, it’s important for us to continue to build that business in the U.S..
- 9/4/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
By my count, Luca Guadagnino has directed a dozen short films, both documentaries and commercials. This year’s “The Staggering Girl” marks the director’s first invitation from Cannes. He sent the 35-minute, 35mm short — financed by Rai Cinema and Valentino — to his friend Paolo Moretti, who promptly invited it to Directors Fortnight. “I’m a Venice man,” said Guadagnino. “I am a nouvelle vague person, this is my first time. I felt at home. Maybe this is the beginning of a new phase for me.”
The admitted workaholic loves shooting shorts between longer projects, as a way to stay creative, playful, and busy as well as enabling him to afford directing films such as the Oscar-winning “Call Me By Your Name.” His most beloved work could still see a sequel with the October publication of Andre Aciman’s sequel, “Find Me.” “We have the rights, it’s all cool,...
The admitted workaholic loves shooting shorts between longer projects, as a way to stay creative, playful, and busy as well as enabling him to afford directing films such as the Oscar-winning “Call Me By Your Name.” His most beloved work could still see a sequel with the October publication of Andre Aciman’s sequel, “Find Me.” “We have the rights, it’s all cool,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
By my count, Luca Guadagnino has directed a dozen short films, both documentaries and commercials. This year’s “The Staggering Girl” marks the director’s first invitation from Cannes. He sent the 35-minute, 35mm short — financed by Rai Cinema and Valentino — to his friend Paolo Moretti, who promptly invited it to Directors Fortnight. “I’m a Venice man,” said Guadagnino. “I am a nouvelle vague person, this is my first time. I felt at home. Maybe this is the beginning of a new phase for me.”
The admitted workaholic loves shooting shorts between longer projects, as a way to stay creative, playful, and busy as well as enabling him to afford directing films such as the Oscar-winning “Call Me By Your Name.” His most beloved work could still see a sequel with the October publication of Andre Aciman’s sequel, “Find Me.” “We have the rights, it’s all cool,...
The admitted workaholic loves shooting shorts between longer projects, as a way to stay creative, playful, and busy as well as enabling him to afford directing films such as the Oscar-winning “Call Me By Your Name.” His most beloved work could still see a sequel with the October publication of Andre Aciman’s sequel, “Find Me.” “We have the rights, it’s all cool,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Amy Poehler has set her next directorial project for Netflix. It will be Moxie, a Tamara Chestna-scripted adaptation of the Jennifer Mathieu novel which Poehler’s Paper Kite acquired last year.
Poehler will produce through her Paper Kite banner along with Veep’s Morgan Sackett and Paper Kite development director Kim Lessing. Sackett and Poehler worked together on Wine Country and Parks and Rec. They previously worked together on Wine Country and Parks and Rec. Production will begin in the fall.
Wine Country marks the feature directing debut of Poehler, and it will premiere on Netflix in May. Poehler stars alongside Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Tina Fey, Maya Erskine, Jason Schwartzman, and Cherry Jones.
Moxie tells the story of a 16-year-old girl from a small town who is inspired by her mother’s past as part of the underground punk movement Riot Grrrl,...
Poehler will produce through her Paper Kite banner along with Veep’s Morgan Sackett and Paper Kite development director Kim Lessing. Sackett and Poehler worked together on Wine Country and Parks and Rec. They previously worked together on Wine Country and Parks and Rec. Production will begin in the fall.
Wine Country marks the feature directing debut of Poehler, and it will premiere on Netflix in May. Poehler stars alongside Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Tina Fey, Maya Erskine, Jason Schwartzman, and Cherry Jones.
Moxie tells the story of a 16-year-old girl from a small town who is inspired by her mother’s past as part of the underground punk movement Riot Grrrl,...
- 2/20/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke outlined global content plans to press in Los Angeles.
Pitching itself as an increasingly global content producer, Amazon Studios has given green lights to a slew of new original series from territories including the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico.
In a presentation at this week’s Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour in Los Angeles, the company said it was ordering or renewing more than 20 series from international markets for its Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.
Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said the slate reflected a strategy initiated soon after her appointment a...
Pitching itself as an increasingly global content producer, Amazon Studios has given green lights to a slew of new original series from territories including the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico.
In a presentation at this week’s Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour in Los Angeles, the company said it was ordering or renewing more than 20 series from international markets for its Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.
Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said the slate reflected a strategy initiated soon after her appointment a...
- 2/14/2019
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Aiming to ramp up its premium international content, Amazon Prime Video has greenlit the production of 17 new original series from Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico.
These include “The Power,” a British contemporary thriller based on Naomi Alderman’s bestselling science-fiction novel; “El Presidente,” a Mexican crime series inspired by the 2015 corruption scandal that engulfed world soccer body FIFA ; “We Children of Bahnhof Zoo,” a German series based on the 1978 controversial autobiographical book by the same name; “The Last Hour,” an Indian supernatural crime thriller set in the Himalayas; and an untitled social issue series produced by Vice Media Japan, which will mark the first collaboration between Vice and Amazon Prime Video.
“We know that customers watching Prime Video everywhere want to see authentic stories, set in their own countries, and to invest in characters that can reflect their own experiences and diversity,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios.
These include “The Power,” a British contemporary thriller based on Naomi Alderman’s bestselling science-fiction novel; “El Presidente,” a Mexican crime series inspired by the 2015 corruption scandal that engulfed world soccer body FIFA ; “We Children of Bahnhof Zoo,” a German series based on the 1978 controversial autobiographical book by the same name; “The Last Hour,” an Indian supernatural crime thriller set in the Himalayas; and an untitled social issue series produced by Vice Media Japan, which will mark the first collaboration between Vice and Amazon Prime Video.
“We know that customers watching Prime Video everywhere want to see authentic stories, set in their own countries, and to invest in characters that can reflect their own experiences and diversity,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios.
- 2/13/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon is going global in a big way with the launch of 20 new and returning international series including titles from the likes of Amy director Asif Kapadia as well as a Japanese version of The Bachelorette.
It has ordered a raft of scripted and non-scripted titles from Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico (full list below).
“We’re delighted to announce the commissioning of more than twenty new and returning series, to be produced in seven countries across three continents around the world. We know that customers watching Prime Video everywhere want to see authentic stories, set in their own countries, and to invest in characters that can reflect their own experiences and diversity,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We’re excited and committed to amplifying the voices of storytellers from all over the world and to bring their visions to life for our viewers worldwide.”
James Farrell,...
It has ordered a raft of scripted and non-scripted titles from Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico (full list below).
“We’re delighted to announce the commissioning of more than twenty new and returning series, to be produced in seven countries across three continents around the world. We know that customers watching Prime Video everywhere want to see authentic stories, set in their own countries, and to invest in characters that can reflect their own experiences and diversity,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We’re excited and committed to amplifying the voices of storytellers from all over the world and to bring their visions to life for our viewers worldwide.”
James Farrell,...
- 2/13/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Amazon is giving Japan an early Valentine’s Day gift in the form of a series order for a local adaptation of “The Bachelorette.”
Prime Video has greenlit a Japanese version of the popular ABC reality dating series, along with more than 20 other new and returning Prime original series, set to go into production in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico, the streamer announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday.
Here’s the official description for the upcoming Japan-based version of the long-running American series: “‘The Bachelorette’ is a local version of the American reality dating competition format that has aired continuously for 14 seasons in the Us since 2003, when it was created as a spinoff of ‘The Bachelor.’ In ‘The Bachelorette,’ gender roles are reversed and women are put in the driver’s seat when a single Bachelorette embarks on a journey to find her...
Prime Video has greenlit a Japanese version of the popular ABC reality dating series, along with more than 20 other new and returning Prime original series, set to go into production in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Mexico, the streamer announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday.
Here’s the official description for the upcoming Japan-based version of the long-running American series: “‘The Bachelorette’ is a local version of the American reality dating competition format that has aired continuously for 14 seasons in the Us since 2003, when it was created as a spinoff of ‘The Bachelor.’ In ‘The Bachelorette,’ gender roles are reversed and women are put in the driver’s seat when a single Bachelorette embarks on a journey to find her...
- 2/13/2019
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Italian director Alice Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) will direct two of the eight episodes of Rai and HBO’s Elena Ferrante adaptation “The Story of a New Name,” the second season of “My Brilliant Friend,” according to sources.
A representative for Wildside, the show’s production company, had no comment.
Director Saverio Costanzo, who handled all eight episodes of “My Brilliant Friend,” and was chosen by Ferrante to direct the adaptation, will now be sharing directing duties on the show’s followup with Rohrwacher. “The Story of a New Name” will mark the first time Rohrwacher directs a TV series. Prior to “Lazzaro,” which won the best screenplay last year in Cannes, Rohrwacher made a splash on the Croisette in 2014 with “The Wonders,” which took the fest’s Jury Grand Prize.
“The Story of a New Name” continues the story about two friends growing up in post-war Italy. It sees protagonists Lila and Elena,...
A representative for Wildside, the show’s production company, had no comment.
Director Saverio Costanzo, who handled all eight episodes of “My Brilliant Friend,” and was chosen by Ferrante to direct the adaptation, will now be sharing directing duties on the show’s followup with Rohrwacher. “The Story of a New Name” will mark the first time Rohrwacher directs a TV series. Prior to “Lazzaro,” which won the best screenplay last year in Cannes, Rohrwacher made a splash on the Croisette in 2014 with “The Wonders,” which took the fest’s Jury Grand Prize.
“The Story of a New Name” continues the story about two friends growing up in post-war Italy. It sees protagonists Lila and Elena,...
- 2/11/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
After scoring a coup with the TV adaptation of “My Brilliant Friend,” and with projects such as Paolo Sorrentino’s “The New Pope” and Oscar-nominated director Pawel Pawlikowski’s next film in the pipeline, Italy’s Wildside is in a pretty brilliant spot.
Ten years after being co-founded by producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli, the shingle is expanding its international footprint and is on its way toward becoming, as Mieli puts it, “a home for big auteurs, both directors and writers…who can generate stories that can travel.” This can also mean mainstream-minded talents, he said.
That game plan includes Wildside’s first English-language series, about the life of film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, and other high-end projects in various stages. Among these is an “ambitious” new film by U.S.-trained Italian director Emanuele Crialese, who broke out with “Respiro” and helmed an episode of the recent Getty kidnap series “Trust.
Ten years after being co-founded by producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli, the shingle is expanding its international footprint and is on its way toward becoming, as Mieli puts it, “a home for big auteurs, both directors and writers…who can generate stories that can travel.” This can also mean mainstream-minded talents, he said.
That game plan includes Wildside’s first English-language series, about the life of film and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, and other high-end projects in various stages. Among these is an “ambitious” new film by U.S.-trained Italian director Emanuele Crialese, who broke out with “Respiro” and helmed an episode of the recent Getty kidnap series “Trust.
- 2/4/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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