L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2015 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 7 The power of creativity that overcomes tragedies Valentina Castellani Quinn is not only a well-rounded artist, with a strong background in painting and fashion design, but also an intuitive and forward- thinking entrepreneur. This last quality she discovered acciden- tally, after the tragic and sudden death of her beloved husband Francesco Quinn, firstborn of Oscar winner Anthony Quinn, in the summer of 2011. Thanks to her extraordinary sensibility and sixth sense, the recently founded Quinn Studios h a v e c o - p r o d u c e d Y i l m a z E r d o g a n ' s T h e B u t t e r f l y ' s Dream (acclaimed Turkish entry for the Best Foreign Language F i l m a t t h e 2 0 1 4 A c a d e m y Awards and Golden Globes), and are now presenting the doc- u m e n t a r y O n e R o c k T h r e e R e l i g i o n s , d i r e c t e d b y I s a a c H e r t z a n d s u p p o r t e d b y t h e United Nations. Valentina, how has your background in fine arts led to y o u r p r e s e n t c a r e e r i n t h e movie industry? My drawing skills opened the way for me to attend the Art Institute in Florence and then to c o m p l e t e m y s t u d i e s a t t h e European Institute of Design (IED). The program was very selective, only 20 students were accepted and I had to learn how t o d r a w f a s h i o n s k e t c h e s a t night, while also preparing for my high school finals. It was hard to imagine a career in the arts at such a young age, and my father wasn't very supportive until he realized how good I was, which made him proud and improved our relationship. My parents came from two opposite worlds: he was a pragmatic head physician, while my mother's family owned the Verdi Opera House Theater in Florence since the 19 th century. After graduating, I have lived in Paris for about 5 years, selling my designs to some mayor fash- ion houses, the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Kenzo, and creating costumes for contemporary bal- let shows. Besides, I also took an interest in acting, training with Vittorio Gassman among others, and appearing in a few minor TV series and classical plays. W h e n a n d w h y d i d y o u move to Los Angeles? My first husband – and father of my daughter Sofia - is famous photographer Lance Staedler. As he used to work in fashion and cinema, we first moved to New York and then to Los Angeles, w h i c h s e e m e d t o o f f e r m o r e opportunities in terms of both b u s i n e s s a n d f a m i l y l i f e . E v e n t u a l l y w e d i v o r c e d b u t remained friends, and he and Sofia have always been very close. SILVIA SIMONETTI In 2008, while dubbing Ron Howard's movie Angeles and Demons, I met an old friend f r o m m y y o u t h , F r a n c e s c o Quinn, and fell in love with him. Our families have known each other for many years, Anthony and my grandfather also worked t o g e t h e r a t s o m e p o i n t . Francesco and I happily married and settled in Malibu with my daughter and his children, who unfortunately happened to be there when he suddenly passed away. Creativity helped me face that tragedy: I decided to turn a dream into reality by founding the Quinn Studios with my busi- ness partner Max Musina. Our first production was the beauti- ful TV series Life on a Bike, based on the lives and races of professional cyclists participat- ing in the Giro d'Italia, courtesy of the Italian national television (RAI). T h e Q u i n n S t u d i o s w e r e then up and running. What did you do next? We wanted to make a docu- mentary film on the Syrian war, which is so close to Europe and yet so neglected, and went to Turkey to request all the neces- sary permits and protection. Nevertheless, the current situa- tion and terrorism threats have momentarily stopped us. In Turkey, however, we met Yilmaz Erdogan, director of The Butterfly's Dream. His movie was very different in the begin- ning: it was too long and dra- matic, according to the local taste and tradition, but still it was a masterpiece. We worked on it together, modifying the tex- ture and rhythm of the plot, until it finally looked ready for an international audience. The first screening that we organized for the Hollywood Foreign Press was a success, and a week later the movie was nominated to the A c a d e m y A w a r d s a n d t h e Golden Globes. It was recog- nized in international festivals and, most importantly, we liter- ally opened Hollywood's doors to a new market: this year anoth- er Turkish movie won at Cannes Film Festival. Can you tell us more about your latest production One Rock Three Religions? W e w e r e a p p r o a c h e d b y young filmmaker Isaac Hertz, who was working on a documen- tary on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and wanted us to pro- duce it. The idea was interesting, b u t w e n e e d e d t o w i d e n t h e film's outreach and include all the cultures involved in an unbi- ased way, by interviewing world leaders and common people in both Israel and Palestine. We presented the final version to the United Nations and on the occa- sion of a recent UNESCO meet- ing on international dialog in Florence. Achieving peace is a slow process that affects us all, while choosing not to be afraid only takes a moment and can change history. C o n s t a n t l y t r a v e l i n g t h e world, do you feel at home in L.A.? Absolutely. But after all I left Italy at the age of 18, so I don't really know what it means to live there as a grown woman. Even if I decided to live and work in the U.S., I often visit my family in Italy and love the way our traditional values and cre- ativity combine with L.A.'s mul- ticulturalism. The local Italian community is vibrant and tight- knit, and I'm particularly proud to collaborate with the IIC on some initiatives. Valentina Castellani Quinn. Photo credit Roxanne McCann Valentina Castellani Quinn meets Pope Francis

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