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INDUSTRY Italy

The appeal of European co-productions at the “BLS Film Conference” (II)

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- Incontri #5 analysed concrete funding models and the evolution of production in the digital era

The appeal of European co-productions at the “BLS Film Conference” (II)
A panel at the “BLS Film Conference”

The second day of Incontri #5 in Bolzano focused on the topic of distribution platforms. The first panel discussion, entitled "Content strategies and audience reach - The Streaming Platforms", analysed the various strategies in place in the field of production itself. Comments were made by Marcus Ammon (Sky Germany), Simon Assmann (Elvira Filmproduktion), Anke Beining-Wellhausen (Teleclub), Marc Gabizon (Wild Bunch Germany) and Gianluca Guzzo (My Movies Italia). Whilst thirty-year-old Swiss Pay-TV broadcaster Teleclub, the oldest in Europe, has been co-funding and co-producing projects in addition to purchasing them for some time now, Sky Germany made its first foray into production with its TV series Berlin Babylon.

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"More than audience share, we’re interested in the marketing effects that such a production could generate. We want to use this to show those who don’t yet have a subscription with us what we can do”. Our business model is actually a lot more diverse than that of Netflix, which bases everything on huge promotional activities aimed at the entire Pay-TV sector” said the head of production at Sky Germany, Marcus Ammon. "I see our network as a room in which artists share their ideas and projects”. The second part of the discussion, entitled "Best Practice", looked at innovative TV formats and distribution methods suited to the small screen.

Staying on the subject of television series, the panel discussion "Turning reality into fiction: Italy’s way to global success", addressed one of the key questions of this fifth edition: "Can local mean global?" and looked at an array of “Italian success stories”. Starting with Romanzo Criminale and Gomorrah and finishing with ZeroZeroZero [+see also:
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]
, based on another best seller of Roberto Saviano, which is already generating a lot of hype, the panel analysed how Sky Italy has played on what Variety refers to as “Italian Immorality” to attract the attention of the whole world and thus guarantee the success of its productions. The Italian production company behind these success stories is Cattleya, and Marco Chimenz, who has been a partner since 1999, was on hand to talk about this experience: “The apeal of certain types of content, above all drama, is so strong that when you have one successful production, the same international partners come back to you for more”.

Marco Chimenz, together with Roberto Amoroso (Sky Italy), Alexander Dummreicher-Ivanceanu (Amour Fou) and Manfred Hatlendorf (SWR), were among those who participated in the closing panel discussion of Incontri #5: "Further steps and strategies – An outlook", which briefly considered the future of television and film.

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(Translated from Italian)

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