Italian Distributors Bridging Culture Between Europe and North America

Raoul Bova and Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of "All Roads Lead to Rome"

Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi are taking the distribution world by storm and bringing a whole new angle of Italian cinema to North America.

Iervolino who has been a producer since the age of 16, has produced, financed and distributed over 40 films. A partner and founder of a number different production companies, he is currently, the youngest and most highly regarded Italian entrepreneurs in the world of film-making.

With his Italian-Canadian origins (his mother is Canadian, his father Italian), after also having worked on different productions and co-productions with some of the country’s major film-makers and having shot no fewer than 8 films in 2011, in October of that same year he founded his own distribution company, Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A, which is now a part of the AMBI PICTURES Group, whose partners are Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi.

Andrea Iervolino has never left out his innate passion for films on powerful social issues and in this regard he is also president of the FCAI, an association that is committed to taking exposé and social commentary films into schools, something made possible thanks to the Cineschoolday initiative, for which Italian Life Senator Giulio Andreotti was a spokesperson in 2011-2012.

Iervolino’s latest ventures include “Italian Style Thriller”, which comprises three feature-length films in 3D and a series consisting of eight episodes that will have as their common denominator a genre that in the seventies led to Italy becoming a worldwide point of reference, namely Horror.

It is through this project that some young Italian directors have had the opportunity to once again bring this genre of movie, which had all but disappeared, back to life in Italy, creating them using present-day directing techniques with a view to venturing once again on the international scene.

AMBI Pictures and Distribution

Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi are partners in AMBI PICTURES, an investment company whose task is to provide financial backing for medium to high-budget international films featuring Hollywood names. Iervolino and Bacardi also founded AMBI Distribution. Based in Beverly Hills, it's a worldwide sales agency that integrates finance, production and distribution for AMBI Pictures.

Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi

I had a conference call with the two distributors during Toronto's Italian Contemportary Film Festival. They talked about their recently produced films, which include eight just last year- the action-thriller 2047 Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen; (My interview with “2047: Sights of Death” Screenwriter, Tommaso Agnese) the Barry Levinson directed drama, The Humbling, starring Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Kyra Sedgwick, Charles Grodin and Dianne Wiest; and the crime-thriller Hope Lost starring Danny Trejo, Mischa Barton and Michael Madsen.

Recently AMBI produced Andron – The Black Labyrinth, by Francesco Cinquemani starring Alec Baldwin, Danny Glover, Gale Morgan Harold III and the singer Skin. Andrea Iervolino and the director Marco Risi, in collaboration with Monika Bacardi produced Tre Tocchi, by Marco Risi. In collaboration with Paradox Studios, AMBI Pictures is also in production with the romantic comedy All Roads Lead To Rome starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Monika told me that the story brings together the Italian and American cultures.. and that she's really looking forward to releasing this film at the end of this year or in 2016, depending how production goes. We'll keep you posted.

AMBI Pictures is financing and producing with Franco’s Rabbit Bandini Productions and That’s Hollywood Pictures, a film directed by James Franco and based on Steinbeck’s gritty, realist style novel: In Dubious Battle. The film stars James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, Bryan Cranston and Danny McBride.

The company has also recently ventured into the world of animation, with two animated features: Arctic Justice – Thunder Squad and East End. Iervolino and Bacardi, together with American Sniper Producer, Andrew lazar,are tackling Sci-Fi Thriller, Rupture, starring Noomi Rapace and directed by Steven Shainberg. The team is also in talks with the family of Federico Fellini to remake the iconic filmmaker's equally iconic film, La dolce vita.

Comments

Anna Foglietta: Actress and Activist with Old School Elegance

One look at actress Anna Foglietta in her any of her roles, and the Golden Age of Italian cinema comes to mind. Among Italy’s most sought-after actresses today, Foglietta brings to the table a classic eloquence of yesterday while representing Italy’s modern woman. Born in Rome in 1979, Foglietta began her career in 2005 with a role in the RAI television series La squadra . Her character Agent Anna De Luca had a two-year run on the series as she was transitioning to cinema with Paolo Virzì’s 2006 ensemble project 4-4-2- Il gioco più bello del mondo . Since then, she has become one of Italy’s most diverse actresses, transforming herself into interesting, layered characters for comedies and dramas alike. Aside from a small part in Anton Corbijn’s 2010 film The American starring George Clooney, Foglietta’s work began reaching mainstream American audiences in 2015. As Elisa in Edoardo Leo’s 2015 comedy Noi e la Giulia , Foglietta showed her funny side playing a goofball pregn...

La Grande Bellezza of Sabrina Ferilli

The 2015 Rome Premiere of "Io e Lei" Sabrina Ferilli has been gracing Italian screens, big and small, since the mid-80s. With her recent role in Paolo Sorrentino's international blockbuster, "La Grande Bellezza" (The Great Beauty), audiences throughout the world are getting the chance to see why she is one of Italy's most beloved treasures. Born in Rome in 1964, Sabrina Ferilli is the daughter of Giuliano Ferilli, the former leader of the Communist Party of the Lazio Region. Ferilli attempted to study her craft at Rome's Experimental Center of Cinematography, but later decided to abandon her studies and dive right into her career. Time has proven that she made the right choice. With dozens of movies to her credit, Ferilli has appeared on television and on the big screen, becoming a household name in Italy. Ferilli is the very portrait of Italian beauty with her infamous figure, long brown locks and dark eyes. But as cliched as it may sound, s...

Director Gianni Di Gregorio explores relationships in later life with 'Never Too Late for Love'

In “Astolfo” (“Never Too Late for Love”), director Gianni Di Gregorio delivers a coming-of-age film for the golden years of life about a retired professor who leaves Rome to return to a tiny mountain village in Abruzzo. The film opens with the title character, played by Di Gregorio, walking through the streets of his Roman neighborhood, groceries in hand, only to find his landlord waiting for him when he arrives home. She is there to announce that he will have to vacate his humble residence to make way for her daughter, who is getting married soon. After some contemplation, he calls his ex-wife to ask her about an old family castle he split with her in their divorce. When she confirms that a portion of the castle is his for the taking, he gleefully returns to his spacious new home only to discover it has been occupied by a squatter, who turns out to be an acquaintance from his childhood who is also down on his luck. Without hesitation, Astolfo adopts the man as his roommate. ...

Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni.. What cinema dreams are made of

The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up its retrospective of the cinematic collaboration of husband and wife team, Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni. Over the last few days, the couple have participated in discussions, Q & A sessions and have introduced several of their films. Today, I attended a screening of "La voce della luna" (The voice of the moon). It was Federico Fellini's last film and is a wonderful tribute to the director's signature poetic madness. The film gave Benigni the opportunity to team up with fellow beloved comic, Paolo Villaggio, and the two created a truly unforgettable adventure. Today's screening began with an introduction by Benigni. The moments leading up to his introduction were noticeably serious and somewhat tense. Benigni's publicist and TIFF security staunchly guarded his privacy. There was no interaction and no photos were allowed. Guided by ...

Paola Cortellesi shines as La Befana in a family comedy blending tradition and modernity

A wildly successful Christmastime film, earning over $8 million at the box office when it premiered in 2018, "La befana vien di notte" (“The Legend of the Christmas Witch”) is a wholesome holiday comedy that the whole family can watch. Directed by Michele Soavi, the film stars two of Italy's most diverse contemporary actors, Paola Cortellesi and Stefano Fresi, as gift-giving foes. Paola (Cortellesi) is a grammar schoolteacher by day, but at night, she turns into La Befana, the Christmas witch, a mystical being who brings gifts to the good kids and coal to the naughty ones. On one of her Befana nights, she was attacked by a dog that tore her Befana gift list. When she returned home from a night of riding on her broomstick, delivering gifts to children all over the world, she realized that she had forgotten one child. When she discovered the torn-up list, she figured out who the child was, got back on her broom, and headed straight to his house. Having arrived late, the b...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog