22/12/2005

A 15m euro film investment in Naples was announced by the Councillor of Tourism and Culture of the Campania Region, Marco Di Lello, during a workshop held in Naples by the Campania Region Film Commission.

This follows the announcement of just several days ago on the creation of the first audiovisual aid fund (for 2006) of 1.5m euro, for both services and production in Campania. Established one year ago, the Campania Region Film Commission wanted to open a national discussion on the role of film commissions with a workshop whose participants included numerous Italian producers, national Film Commission representatives and the General Director for Cinema, Gaetano Blandini.

The Campania Region Film Commission presented a five-part program for the implementation of: a private audiovisual fund, the investments for which would come from local businesses and banking institutions, in collaboration with the Industrial Union; a non-profit public/private foundation to support debut films; an “activation fund” to produce screenplays by local authors; a system of product placement aimed at local businesses and products; and various sponsor activities. Film Commission President Luciano Stella asserted the need for a networking policy: "The support of audiovisual [entertainment] can no longer be considered an expense, but a useful investment. We must therefore integrate and coordinate national resources [i.e., the Visual Arts Fund] increasingly more with those of the regions and local associations."

Two French guests - Chantal Fischer, head of the Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Mission Cinema, and Alain Modot, vice-president of the Media Consulting Group – gave concrete examples of service management in the territory, relationships between film commissions working within the same territory (on the regional, provincial and municipal level), and training and professionalization of operators, which is one of the biggest obstacles to overcome in Italy. Other problems to be tackled include: the difficulty in accessing European funds, more efficient coordination and greater visibility, and the need to implement a networking policy and win over producers’ reservations.