What can Italy offer international audiovisuals?
Italian Film Commissions Day will attempt to answer this question on Monday 16 May when all the Italian film Commissions will be at the Hotel Majestic in Cannes in the business area of the Italian Pavilion, from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
“We will be available to professionals to provide information and contacts”, explains Stefania Ippoliti, president of the Italian Film Commissions: “We believe it will be very useful to be all present together, on the same date and in the same place, even though many film commissioners will be staying in Cannes for longer”.
After a brief presentation of the state incentives available by Maria Giuseppina Troccoli, an executive at the cinema and audiovisuals office of MiBACT [Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism], and an introduction to Film Commission Day by the Coordination representatives, a full day of work will begin.
The Italian Film Commissions will arrive at this rendezvous with a renewed verve, galvanized by the new Cinema bill that sees their role and activities officially recognized by the State: the law describes them as the entities through which the Regions promote the territory by supporting the economic and cultural development of the audiovisual industry.
Stronger in Italy, more proactive in Europe: the IFC has been the leader of European project – Regional Film Commissions and Funds as a Knowledge Hub in the moviemaking process – presented as part of the Erasmus Plus program, in which many Italian and European Film Commissions and Funds and relevant associations participated, from EUFCN Filming Europe to Cine Regio.
“Our activities have very high professional standards that are widespread and uniform” continues Ippoliti, “now it is a realistic ambition to have a European proposal. From this stems our commitment to strengthening the network of Film Commissions and Funds: we ask Europe to support us and allow us to travel and meet with each other so that our staffs can share knowledge, but above all so that so-called good practices can be circulated”.
The protocols signed by the Association in the last two years are moving in this direction, starting with the Agency for territorial Cohesion (ACT) of which the Sensi contemporanei program is a part, and with MiBACT, one of the principal objectives of which is the obtaining of funds for the internationalization of activities, the creation of supranational networks, the promotion of the Regions through activities of territorial valorization and training initiatives in order to improve the skills and expertise of the Film Commissions and sector professionals.
Also worth mentioning is the protocol with Convention Bureau Italia, the association dedicated to coordinating companies involved in the promotion of tourism, and with the Associazione Parchi e Giardini d’Italia – Association of Italian parks and Gardens (APGI), that aims to maximize Italy’s “green” heritage as a resource: from sets for cinema and dramas to locations for photo shoots commercials and documentaries.
“Each protocol is a response to the decision to work in a network. They are not just slogans because they make us think and act with broader horizons and more truly in terms of a European market; this means, for example, developing more European co-productions, and the better we get to know each other the easier that will be”.
The internationalization strategies do not stop with Europe, and for this line producers are essential, i.e. the professionals that support foreign productions in Italy: “They are our best allies” – Stefania Ippoliti has no doubts – “because since they know the international market well, they are excellent at hunting out production opportunities for our country. Even though we often receive requests from foreign production com- panies, it is undeniable that line producers have more tools than we do for understanding who we are dealing with”.
The president of the Italian Film Commissions launches a proposal: “At international events we would like there to be line producers in the Italian space, just like the foreign sales companies. This would be a clear way of communicating that the proposal Italy presents is rich, complex but united”.