Vivarelli International Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran Italian film executive Claudio Rapino, prominent producer Andrea Iervolino and entrepreneur Pietro Peligra have teamed to form film and TV distribution and development company Maestro Distribution, which will launch from the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin. Rapino (pictured left), a former head of acquisitions and sales at top Italian companies including Leone Film Group, Notorious Pictures and Koch Media Italia, will head Maestro, which plans to buy and theatrically distribute up to 10 international feature films a year.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prominent Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli are exiting their Fremantle-owned companies — Wildside and The Apartment, respectively — in an industry shakeup expected to lead them to jointly form a new independent scripted content outfit. Gianani and Mieli co-founded Wildside in 2009 and turned it into the powerhouse behind major global dramas such as RAI/HBO’s “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend,” to name a few.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been banned from leaving Iran to serve as a member of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard jury, according to a report. News of the travel ban for the director who was recently released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on social media, has been reported by the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (RFI). The report said Rasoulof had been asked to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury but has been forced to decline. The Cannes Film Festival did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFormer Hulu exec Johannes Larcher, who most recently worked for Dubai-based MBC Group, has been appointed head of WarnerMedia’s HBO Max International.Larcher, who is a dual U.S.-Austrian national, will join the company in August and report to Gerhard Zeiler, chief revenue officer for WarnerMedia, and president of WarnerMedia International Networks.Larcher worked at Hulu from 2009 to 2013 and served as senior VP for international.