Italy’s D’Innocenzo Brothers Shooting Eclectic Crime Series ‘Dostoevskij,’ Produced by Sky Studios –– First Look Image

EXCLUSIVE: UK distribution and production company Altitude has released a first look at T.I.M (Technologically. Integrated. Manservant), the debut film from British filmmaker Spencer Brown, which will be presented to buyers at AFM.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era Cinema Italiano works, is getting a reboot and reviving its production side with several projects in development, including a contemporary sequel of Dario Argento’s supernatural chiller “Phenomena.”  Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after Luchino Visconti’s lavish Sicily-set costumer “The Leopard” (1963), starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, went way over budget. Since the mid-1980s the studio’s output has been on a much smaller scale, and primarily for TV.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Exports of Italian TV series and non-theatrical movies have more than doubled over the past five years thanks in part to the rise of local originals commissioned by streamers, just as investments in production of local scripted content are also increasing. That is the key finding of a report unveiled at Rome’s MIA market by Italy’s producers association APA, which estimates the total value of Italy’s TV exports in 2021 at roughly €100 million ($97 million). The total cost of all types of Italian TV and platform content produced in 2021 reached €1.4 billion ($1.36 billion) in 2021, which is a 37% increase compared with 2017, according to the APA report.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent On a cobblestone-paved square in the ancient town of Tivoli, north-east of Rome, in late September, a large crew is prepping to shoot a key scene in Italian period drama “La Storia,” which will be pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show next year. Based on a bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante – whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference – “La Storia” is set during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath in Italy. The eight-episode series, being unveiled by Beta Film to buyers at Rome’s MIA content market, stars Italian A-list actor Jasmine Trinca – who earlier this year was a member of the Cannes jury – as Ida, a single mother of two sons, who hides her Jewish heritage and fights against poverty and persecution.

International co-productions are all the rage right now, and Europe’s top players are looking to the U.S.

K.J. Yossman First look images have been revealed of the third and purportedly final season of crime drama “Happy Valley.” The six-part final season, made by Lookout Point for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in co-production with AMC Networks, will see Sarah Lancashire return as Sergeant Catherine Cawood and James Norton as Tommy Lee Royce. The first images show Lancashire sporting a bloody nose following a police raid while Royce, with a new look, is locked in his prison cell. Siobhan Finneran stars as Catherine’s sister Clare and Rhys Connah as her teenage grandson Ryan.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s David di Donatello Awards are launching an innovative ecological initiative under which they will monitor the environmental sustainability of productions in the running for the country’s top film prizes. The move is being touted as a first of this type by Davids organizers who are hoping it can become a game changer in prompting companies in Italy and across Europe to reduce the environmental impact of their film productions. To monitor the carbon footprint and other green aspects of movies submitted to the Davids, the organisation has forged a partnership with EcoMuvi, an Italian protocol that certifies a film production’s ecological sustainability from pre-product through post.

Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic has inked an exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights deal with Germany’s Beta Film for four European crime series ahead of this year’s Mipcom TV programming mart in Cannes. Dedicated to crime and suspense, Topic, part of First Look Entertainment, picked up the third season of critically acclaimed Austrian-German series “Pagan Peak”; Finnish title “Helsinki Syndrome”; “Silent Road” from Greece; and Croatian-Ukrainian co-production “The Silence.” The agreement also includes renewals of Italian political thriller “1992” and follow-up seasons “1993” and “1994.” Described as Italy’s “House Of Cards,” the show  examines how Italian politics were shaken to the core by a major criminal investigation against widespread corruption in the 1990s.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Production is underway in Italy on the Italian instalment of Prime Video’s global “Citadel” spy thriller franchise, produced by the Russo Brothers, with Matilda De Angelis cast as the lead. De Angelis, a rising Italian star, made her international breakthrough in Susanne Bier’s “The Undoing,” alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. She more recently appeared with Liev Schrieber in the Ernest Hemingway adaptation “Across The River and Into The Trees,” directed by Paula Ortiz. The “Citadel” start-of-production in Italy and casting announcement was made at Rome’s MIA content market during an Amazon Studios panel.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has announced high-profile Italian original documentary series “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi,” written and directed by Britain’s Mark Lewis, who won an Emmy for the docu-series “Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.” The streaming giant has also dropped a trailer for the docuseries, produced by British TV production company Raw. The show will premiere globally on Netflix on Oct. 20. The series is the latest probe into a case that started on June 22, 1983, when Emanuela Orlandi, a 15 year-old girl living in Vatican City, disappeared under mysterious circumstances that are believed to have involved the Vatican. The case made headlines around the world.

K.J. Yossman London-based longform news and podcasting outlet Tortoise Media has inked an exclusive first-look deal with Tortoise Media. The multi-year deal will see Sky potentially adapting Tortoise’s original podcasts including their investigative podcast “The Slow Newscast” into scripted and factual high-end series and/or features in the U.K., Italy, Germany and more. Tortoise will collaborate with Sky Studios during the development purpose on the Sky Original projects. Among the podcast series Tortoise Media has put out are “Sweet Bobby,” an investigation into one of the world’s most sophisticated catfishes, and “Hoaxed,” a multi-part series about one of Britain’s most   Since 2019, Tortoise Media has produced chart-topping podcast series such as “Sweet Bobby” and “Hoaxed,” their latest multi-part series exploring one of Britain’s most unusual conspiracy theories, in which an affluent London school community was torn apart by allegations of a satanic paedophile ring was in operation.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French production powerhouse Studiocanal is moving into the Italian production market by joining forces with Rome-based shingle Elsinore Film with plans to co-develop and coproduce a slate of scripted and unscripted content for the Italian and international market. Elsinore Film is a boutique outfit headed by Annamaria Morelli (pictured, left), a former head of production at Italian streamer TimVision, who is known for her scouting activity. Morelli has had a hand in shepherding “Skam Italia,” the Italian adaptation of the Nordic drama series that’s a hit in Italy. She was more recently among producers of “Amanda,” a quirky teen dramedy about female friendship by newcomer Carolina Cavalli, that launched positively in September from the Venice fest’s Horizons section. 

Sky Studios Strikes Podcast-To-Screen Deal With Tortoise Media

It’s been nearly 3½ years since Good Omens debuted on Prime Video, and finally we a premiere date for Season 2 — sort of. Amazon Studios said at New York Comic Con today that the show’s long-delayed sophomore season will arrive in the summer.

First-Look Image Of Adam Driver In Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’Today the producers of Michael Mann’s upcoming biopic Ferrari shared first-look images from the film’s set, including Adam Driver in costume as Enzo Ferrari. Check out the image above. The film is shooting in Italy and features Driver alongside Penélope Cruz, who plays Laura Ferrari, and Shailene Woodley as Lina Lardi. The cast is rounded out by Patrick Dempsey, Jack O’Connell, Peter Collins, Sarah Gadon, Linda Christian, and Gabriel Leone. Michael Mann directs from a script he co-wrote with Troy Kennedy Martin (The Italian Job). Set during the summer of 1957, the film follows ex-racecar driver Ferrari as bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. Their tempestuous marriage struggles with the mourning for one son and the acknowledgment of another. He decides to counter his losses by rolling the dice on one race – 1,000 miles across Italy, the iconic Mille Miglia.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Global porn icon Rocco Siffredi’s life will be depicted in the Netflix original series “Supersex,” but he’s claiming that the show will not be a realistic portrayal. “This beautiful story is inspired by my life, but it is not my life,” Siffredi said in an interview published over the weekend by Italy’s FQ Magazine. “Everything you will see in ‘Supersex’ originates from me, but then the writer put a lot of herself into it.” “Supersex” is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri (“We Are Who We Are,” “L’Immensità”). It was described in a Netflix statement last week as “a profound story” that runs through Siffredi’s life “since childhood.” The show will look at Siffredi’s family, his origins, his relationship with love and “the starting point and the context that led him to embark on his path in pornography.”

If it couldn't get much worse for Stephen Reid considering he's turned to murder to keep his money troubles a secret, he now looks set to suffer more setbacks in Coronation Street. Todd Boyce, who plays the troublesome character, has been pictured filming as Stephen heads for more honest ways of making money.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Tim Burton’s “Wednesday” series starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams will have its European premiere in Italy at Lucca Comics & Games with Burton attending the launch at Europe’s biggest geek meet.  Lucca Comics – which is an immersive cross-media event dedicated to pop culture, cosplay and comics held in the medieval Tuscan town of Lucca – has been chosen by Netflix as the venue for the European unveiling of the first “Wednesday” episode on Oct. 31.  Burton has executive produced and directed four of the show’s eight episodes, with Gandja Monteiro and James Marshall serving as additional directors. “Wednesday” is produced by MGM Television for Netflix.

K.J. Yossman The first image has been released of Bill Bailey and Adjoa Andoh’s characters in upcoming BBC short film “The Smeds and The Smoos.” Based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture-book of the same name, it tells the story of two warring families whose children, Bill and Janet, fall in love and run away together. Hotly pursued by their grandparents, Grandfather Smed (Bailey) and Grandmother Smoo (Andoh), the two young aliens lead their families on a chase across space, giving them the opportunity to find out they have more in common than they think. Rounding out the cast are Ashna Rabheru as Janet, Daniel Ezra as Bill, Rob Brydon as Uncle Smoo, Meera Syal as Aunt Smed and Sally Hawkins as the narrator.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Live sports streaming service DAZN has struck a deal to buy global sports media business ELEVEN Group, which holds rights to the top soccer leagues in Portugal and Belgium.  The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will boost DAZN’s offerings in Italy, German-speaking markets and Spain, where it already holds top league domestic soccer rights. Additionally, ELEVEN has a presence in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets, which will give DAZN a greater foothold in that region where the service is already market leader in Japan, the company said in a statement. The deal also includes ELEVEN-owned Team Whistle, which is a short-form original social media content provider said by DAZN to have over 700 million followers across its channels. Team Whistle is estimated to bring total revenue of around $300 million a year, DAZN said.