EXCLUSIVE: Distributor-producerLucky Redis one of Italys most respected independent film and TV companies.
DEADLINE: Youve just had three movies at the Venice Film Festival.
Perhaps the highest profile was Woody Allens new movie.What attracted you to the film?
Andrea Occhipinti; ‘Coup De Chance,’ ‘Dogman,’ ‘Daaaaaali!’ & ‘The Boy and the Heron’Fabio Lovino/Everett Collection
We got on with him after working onWonder Wheel.Coup de Chanceis one of his best films in recent years.
DEADLINE:How does Woody Allen play in Italy?
Hes very popular here, perhaps only second to France.
Stefano Massenzi, Mattia Guerra & Gabriele D’AndreaCourtesy
We tend to do better than Spain and Germany.
We are a Woody Allen country.
It really gives you goosebumps when you see it.
MASSENZI:Besson does something great with his characters.
You think ofLeon,LucyandNikita: hes back at what he does best.
The way he builds a character, a hero, an outsider.
DEADLINE:Both of these directors come with some baggage.
Did you have any hesitation about picking up a Woody Allen or Luc Beeson film?
OCCHIPINTI:Everything has been cleared legally so theres no issue for us.
DEADLINE:Its always interesting to observe the different responses to certain directors in different countries.
Thats the unfair part of all this.
Its a non-debate because things have been cleared and that should be the end of it.
OCCHIPINTI: Each case is different.
MASSENZI: Woody Allen has been invited everywhere.
Every institution in Italy would like to host his movie or to a do a retrospective of his movies.
DEADLINE:There has been some talk this could be his last movie.
Though its rarely someones last movie…
OCCHIPINTI:You never know.
We have Ken Loachs film.
That is also meant to be his last movie.
And we have the new Miyazaki, which will likely be his last film.
DEADLINE:When do you release Miyazakis film [called The Boy And The Heron]?
DANDREA:January 1…anime tends to do well in Italy.
DEADLINE:Your 2023 slate seems bigger than those of recent years, would that be right?
OCCHIPINTI:Yes, its definitely bigger.
DEADLINE:What would you say characterizes your 2023 slate?
OCCHIPINTI:We have never stopped doing those, actually.
There was a slowdown during the pandemic.
We actually had seven films in the Cannes lineup.
But some of the movies you mentioned above were supposed to be ready earlier.
In terms of what characterizes our lineup, Id say its still big, renowned, auteur filmmakers.
Filmmakers such as Besson, Allen, Wim Wenders, Aki Kaurismaki, and many others.
DEADLINE:What was your most recent release in Italy?
Two weeks ago we releasedPassagesfor Mubi with Ben Whishaw.
Since the pandemic it has been very tough to release Italian films.
Unless you have a big name director such as Bellocchio, Amelio or Nanni Moretti and Paolo Sorrentino.
The average local product is hard, but lets see if that improves.
Netflix has SVOD rights and we do theatrical and home video and other rights.
Weve also had a deal with Sky for many years.
Theyve been a partner in almost all our theatrical releases.
Weve also released some movies for Focus and Universal.
For example, we releasedCard Counter,Watcher,Marcel The ShellWith Shows Onand others for Focus.
For Universal, were releasingStraysnext week.
DEADLINE:How does the Sky deal work?
OCCHIPINTI:Sky is a partner for SVOD and pay windows.
We also do production with them but we dont distribute for them.
DEADLINE:And of course there is Netflix.
Whats the status of that partnership?
OCCHIPINTI:We are Netflixs partner on the movies they choose to release theatrically in Italy.
We do up to six films a year.
The last one wasPinocchioby Guillermo Del Toro.
DEADLINE:Will you do Netflixs Venice movies Maestro, The Killer and El Conde?
MASSENZI: We dont know yet.
It led to you leaving your job, Andrea, as President of Italys Distributors Association.
How are those relations today?
OCCHIPINTI: Many things have changed since then.
Were living in a new world.
The pandemic was traumatic for everyone and the relationship is very good today.
There is much more openness today from the exhibition world than there was before.
The only windowing roadblock you encounter now is on Italian films.
There is a rule that Italian films must respect around a 100-day window.
The rule was introduced after we releasedSulla Mia Pelleon Netflix.
Weve done what we thought was right even if it was a little disruptive.
Weve never been conservative in that sense.
Often the battles between exhibitors and distributors over windows forget the needs of the audience.
Its a title by title arrangement.
On the Italian theatrical movies, theres a 105-day window.
On the U.S. movies there is basically no window by law.
DEADLINE:What about Sorrentinos Hand Of God?
OCCHIPINTI: That was not financed with public support, thus had no windowing restrictions.
It was a huge success.
MASSENZI: To be clear, its not strictly forbidden to do anything.
But if you do break a certain window, then you lose certain benefits.
You lose certain state subsidies.
OCCHIPINTI: We do around 90 to 105 days on all our movies with Sky.
Most people stick to that general rule.
In the case of movie likeMaestro, Netflix would decide how long the theatrical window would be.
DEADLINE:How is Lucky Red capitalized?
OCCHIPINTI: We self-finance at the moment.
We dont have investors.
Im the owner of the company.
DEADLINE:So youre a true indie.
Not many of those around now.
There has been a fair amount of consolidation in Italy.
Did you have talks with the Vuelta Group, for example?
OCCHIPINTI:No, we didnt.
DEADLINE:Over the years there must have been interest in the company?
OCCHIPINTI:There has been, yes.
DEADLINE:Anything recent?
DEADLINE:Is a sale on the cards?
Would it make sense to be part of a larger group now?
We can be quick in our decision-making.
Thats important when the market changes so rapidly.
DEADLINE:How profitable is Lucky Red?
OCCHIPINTI:Its very profitable, according to our accountants.
Weve been helped by working on big U.S. TV projects likeWhite LotusandSuccessionin Italy.
We venture to be measured in our approach to spending and budgets.
Sometimes when you become part of a larger group budgets can get out of hand.
Were profitable because were measured.
DEADLINE:Tell us about your production operations…
MATTIA GUERRA:Weve done a lot for Amazon.
We made four movies in one year and two series.
We hope to start the second season of comedySono Lillosoon.
But we also work with plenty of other TV partners such as Sky, Rai and Mediaset.
We started producing series just before the pandemic.
TV has become very important in our mix, especially with the theatrical box office diminishing during Covid.
DEADLINE:Who is in your TV team?
We have a strong editorial staff and we do it all in-house.
DEADLINE:Whats the next big thing youre working on?
GUERRA:Were working on a big series with Rai calledBelcantoabout the birth of the opera in Italy.
Were looking at a budget of around 15M euros with Vittoria Puccini set to star and Carmine Elia directing.
We have two young actresses to cast for that and that process is going on now.
Newen Connect is handling sales.
The film has Israeli and Belgian co-production partners and were soon adding France.
It will be a four-way co-production.
DEADLINE:Was Roberto Saviano in Venice this year?
Not that we know of.
Its difficult to know where Roberto will be because of his security situation.
He has a busy schedule but we Zoom with him.
Its more difficult to meet in person.
DEADLINE:Italys entertainment sector was hard hit by the pandemic.
Whats the status of its recovery, in your mind?
DANDREA:This has been the strongest summer box office ever for us in Italy.
Barbenheimer has been big here.
But despite the great summer, year to date we are 20 percent down on 2019.
Thats our next goal as Lucky Red and as a market.
There were institutional campaigns by the government and associations to promote the summer and the results were fantastic.
Now we need to go after that older audience.
In terms of showing arthouse and independent films, Italy isnt France, but were also not the UK.
Were somewhere in the middle, but more towards France.
DEADLINE:But you are picking up fewer Italian movies?
Were doing some first-timers.
The previous landscape of big broad comedies in Italy has very much changed.
What we are seeing is a change in production and in the taste of the audiences.
They want unusual movies, high-concept movies.
They want something different.
This is the challenge for the industry in terms of production.
I think the Venice lineup for Italian movies is fairly different movies from in the past.
There are plenty of talented people here, which helps.
Inflation is an issue.
But crew, infrastructure, the natural landscape, the tax credit, are all attractive.
DEADLINE:Are you much impacted by the Hollywood strikes?
DEADLINE:Is Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera delayed by the strike?
MASSENZI: Not that were aware of.
They finished filming before the strikes began.
It was always a 2024 release date.
The major impact will be on U.S. schedules.
The impact on our side of things will be felt a bit further down the line.
DEADLINE:What are your expectations for AFM?
MASSENZI: Everyone pre-buying movies will ask the same question: when is the movie going to be delivered?
There will be a backlog of movies that havent gone into production yet.
So far, on titles we have acquired we dont have this problem.
That one is in a holding pattern.
The initial plan was to shoot this year.
We operate in different sectors.
We are also the majority shareholder in Circuito Cinema, which is a chain of Italian art-house cinemas.
We just made a deal for a new theater in Bologna, actually.
We program more than 120 screens in Italy, so its big.
We own some theaters in Rome and run cinemas in Rome and Florence.
We have partners in Bologna, Naples, and Turin, and we program across the rest of Italy.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
