A €1.2 million ($1.27 million) Italian fund established to boost theatrical distribution of feature films around the world is set to double to more than €2 million and expand its scope to cover streaming and television.
“What we would like to do is increase the distribution of Italian movies all around the world,” Roberto Stabile, head of special projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual-Ministry of Culture at Cinecittà, told Variety. “This support will increase the presence of Italian audiovisual content not only in cinemas, but also on streaming platforms, online distribution, television, everything,” he added.
The new guidelines for the Italy Distribution Fund and its further details will be revealed at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
Stabile spoke with Variety at the ongoing FilMart market in Hong Kong, which he is attending with a delegation of five Italian companies, including Fandango, Lux Vide, Intramovies, True Colours and Vision Distribution.
The Italian government fund was set up several years ago by the Italian Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Cinecittà and the Italian Trade Agency.
Stabile’s department manages China for the Italian Ministry of Culture and has meetings set up at Hong Kong’s FilMart to restart operations in the Middle Kingdom. There are also plans to explore distribution opportunities with Thailand, Vietnam, India, Korea and Japan. The Italian Trade Agency outpost in Hong Kong is Cinecittà’s partner at FilMart.
“We are coming back to Hong Kong after three years and we have a lot of meetings with all our friends from Asia – so it is a very positive impression,” Stabile said.
Next up for the peripatetic Stabile is a visit to Costa Rica with a delegation of animation producers.