In an interview with Fortune Italia Entertainment magazine, Lucia Borgonzoni, Deputy Minister of Culture in charge of film and audiovisual materials, talks about the challenges that await the seventh art, but shows that she does not understand much. He argues that the Italian film industry should follow the lead of US unions, which have been protesting for months. It is a pity that Italy is not America, and the state has never lacked its support. And then he hopes that the producers “need to roll up their sleeves.” How to convince them to do it? This is unknown. So the risk (or already the reality) is that they will respond, like Rhett Rosselle in the final scene of Gone with the Wind: “Honestly, I don’t care.”
lUsia BorgonzoniDeputy Minister of Culture in the governments of Conte I, Draghi and Meloni gave an interview to the newspaper Fortuna Italy Entertainment. The speech was published in the September issue of the magazine. Many topics were touched upon, but the central theme is the restoration of Italian cinema after two years of the pandemic. Compared to July 2022, the League senator emphasizes, “attendance +127.5%, collection +138%.. These results motivate us to continue our work with even greater confidence and enthusiasm.” Undeniable, given the entire summer season, is the influence of blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer. Given the postponements due to strikes, next year there will still be important figures who will send audiences to the theater en masse: let’s think about Dune 2 with Timothy Chalamet or applicants Luca Guadagninowhile watching a movie about Formula 1 with Brad Pitt. However, some issues revolve around this hard core, which, as is already happening in the United States, can no longer be ignored. There are basically two of them: copyright and the transparency of streaming platform earnings data. The first point concerns primarily development of artificial intelligence. It is feared that it could replace writers and actors, resulting in a job shortage that would be difficult to address. It is no coincidence, underlined the Deputy Minister, that a conference sponsored by the ministry will be organized on September 19, which will consider new possible links between art, technology and copyright. The position in the man-machine diatribe is clear: “The vision to be adopted must necessarily be human-centered: the machine behind or beside it, which can never overwhelm the skill and creativity of man.” To improve the situation, you need it too. platforms give way to stricter rules regarding the disclosure of audience data. Streaming has eliminated distribution revenues in foreign countries: in fact, when platforms release new content, they can choose to do so in any country where they operate. In any case, the Deputy Minister’s message is addressed not only to the streaming giants, but to all the realities involved, especially in Italy. The presence of the State, he says, will never fail: it will be inaugurated soon (and his September 5 performance at the Venice Film Festival confirmed this). discussion table with industry operators “it is better to reformulate the structure of the contribution to make it even more effective, adapting it to the new production context.” To protect product quality and creativity, while at the same time adjusting government aid according to the changes that determine the trends of the audiovisual market from time to time.
TEverything is very interesting, it is a pity that, despite the similarity of the needs of the American market and the general needs of many industry professionals, Italy has some specifics, due precisely to the large-scale intervention of the state. Pier Paolo Moccieditorial curator Fortune Italia Entertainment, instead notes on page 7: “Our artists receive off-market compensation because they are bloated with supportive government interference, actually 90% of movies which are transmitted to the big screen before landing on the platforms. The situation with the salaries of screenwriters and actors is due more to the excess presence of the state than its absence. According to Mocci, artists should turn their attention to the producers, abandoning the stability and security of a “fixed” state guaranteed by the state, and strive to achieve pre-set goals in terms of vision. At the same time, as we have already said, the cooperation of platforms becomes fundamental. But asking for money only from the latter would be a mistake.: “In any case, artists demand money from producers,” also because, concludes Mocci, “often actors and directors are themselves producers.” Then everyone takes their own responsibility. A concept confirmed by Deputy Minister Borgonzoni and conveying the idea of an Italian panorama different from the American one. State presence yes, but with due care. In addition, financial instruments will be guaranteed that will allow the integration of Italian companies “so that they can walk on their own without having to become part of international groups in order to grow and conquer new markets.” There will be a coordinating table, one of the occasions when cinema and politics will intertwine in the near future (not least the decision on the presidency of the Centro Sperimentale). Words must be followed by deeds and everything, including producers,they have to roll up their sleeves“. How to convince them to do it? This is not known from the Borgonzoni interview, so there is a risk that they will respond, like Rhett Rosselle in the final scene of Gone with the Wind: “Honestly, I don’t care.”