Italy’s Publispei Set Sights On International Markets As It Unveils ‘Flowers Over The Inferno’ At ITTV in Los Angeles
08.11.2022 - 19:11
/ deadline.com
Publispei is one of the oldest TV and film production companies in Italy and creator of some of the country’s most beloved, long-running series such as Un Medico In Famiglia and I Cesaroni.
Until now, the company’s renown has been confined to Italy but company president Verdiana Bixio wants to change this and expand its international footprint.
The Rome-based producer is in Los Angeles this week for the Italian TV Forum&Festival (ITTV) where she will present Publispei’s upcoming high-end crime show Flowers Over The Inferno on Tuesday (November 8).
The presentation will be part of a larger Rai Fiction ITTV showcase of upcoming dramas, moderated by Michele Zatta, Commissioning Editor International Co-Productions at the Italian state broadcaster.
“It marks a change for me to present a series first in Los Angeles rather than in Italy,” says Bixio.
“The move to be more international is a necessity in a market where there are no longer borders, in terms of genre, geography or language,” she continues. “Recently there has been a lot of interest around Italian creativity and we’ve been working towards being in a position to respond to that.”
Adapted from Italian crime writer Ilaria Tuti’s 2018 best-selling thriller Fiori Sopra L’Inferno, the new series stars Elena Sofia Ricci as Teresa Battaglia, a veteran police superintendent who is called in to investigate a gruesome murder in a mountain community in northern Italy.
The three-part drama is directed by Carlo Carlei who also takes co-writing credits alongside experienced TV writers Donatella Diamanti, Mario Cristiani, and Valerio D’Annunzio.
The push into the international space marks a fresh departure for Publispei which until now has focused mainly on mainstream,