L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 6 A lexia Melocchi, native of Milan, Italy, spent her t e e n a g e y e a r s i n L o s Angeles and, at a very young a g e , c r o s s e d t h e g a t e w a y t o Hollywood. Since around the year 2000, she has been holding the doors to the US market open, by actively c h a m p i o n i n g E u r o p e a n , a n d especially Italian, talented film- makers and helping them express t h e i r c r e a t i v e v o i c e i n Hollywood. Her family-run company, Little Studio Films, revamps the old b u s i n e s s m o d e l , a d o p t e d b y movie studios in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, in which filmmakers, screenwriters and actors used to be under contract and work in- house. If you currently live in L.A. and y o u a r e a b l e t o e n j o y a n e w I t a l i a n g e m o n T V o r a t t h e movie theater, very likely Alexia Melocchi was the one to unearth it. Please, introduce yourself. Tell us more about your Italian ori- gins as well as your upbringing in the US and your beginnings in the movie industry. I was born in Milan, Italy, but I moved to Los Angeles along with my family, in the late 80s. After completing high school here, at 18, I started working in the movie industry. Speaking six languages helped me starting out in the distribution side of the business, selling the rights for US films international- ly. Over the years, I attended all the major film markets, Cannes, MIFED (the no longer existing film market in Milan), Berlin and Sundance. Altogether, I sold o v e r t h i r t y m o v i e s , m o s t l y American. Around the year 2000, sensing how, despite US agencies and management companies regular- ly worked with international filmmakers, the cultural bridge between international talent and Hollywood had not been crossed yet, I embraced the opportunity to discover European, particular- ly Italian, talented filmmakers, screenwriters and authors, thus working toward filling that gap. Our company, in conjunction with Italy's international film distributor Intramovies, was key in securing US distribution in 2 0 0 0 f o r B u t F o r e v e r i n M y Mind (Come te nessuno mai), one of the earliest movies by Gabriele Muccino. I n t h a t s a m e y e a r , w e a l s o w o r k e d a t t h e G o l d e n G l o b e nomination campaign for Marco Tullio Giordana's, One Hundred Steps (I cento passi). The first client, under my repre- sentation, was Italian bestselling a u t h o r , V a l e r i o M a s s i m o Manfredi, whose trilogy of nov- els on Alexander the Great is well-known worldwide. On his behalf, I sold the rights of one of his novels, The Last Legion, to the Weinstein Company for the Hollywood adaptation of the same name, released in 2007. Gradually, I became the go-to person for any Italian director, screenwriter, author, seeking international visibility, before e x p a n d i n g t o t a l e n t f r o m European countries, the likes of Greece and Spain. A s I s t a r t e d h e l p i n g y o u n g Italian filmmakers have their passion projects go into US pro- duction, I turned into a producer myself. The first Italian young directors, w h o m I d i s c o v e r e d , w e r e R o b e r t o D e F e o a n d V i t o Palumbo, from Puglia, Italy. In 2009, they had co-directed the short film, Ice Scream, recipient of many awards. Indeed, I met them in occasion o f o n e o f t h o s e a w a r d c e r e - monies, at the Beverly Hills Film F e s t i v a l . T h e y a s k e d m e t o watch their work and to facili- tate their career in the US. I loved the short and the way it dealt with the current theme of bullying and suggested them to remake it as a US feature film. It turned out to be the first Italian s h o r t t o b e m a d e a s a N o r t h American movie. From your professional expe- rience, how would you define t h e m a i n t a s k s o f a s a l e s agent? I started out in the movie busi- ness as a sales agent, whose main task is to pick up several movies with good distribution potential and try to sell those worldwide to TV networks, the- atrical chains and DVD distribu- tors. Today, it's extremely difficult to have a financial return from dis- tribution, especially in the case of foreign films, unless they win major international film festi- vals. I t m a y b e h a r d f o r N o r t h A m e r i c a n m o v i e s a s w e l l , because at major film markets, the likes of Santa Monica's American Film Market (AFM), the large number of movies, rep- resented by each company, are treated like commodities in a supermarket. M y a p p r o a c h i s d i f f e r e n t , because I dedicate my full atten- t i o n t o d i r e c t o r s , p r o d u c e r s , screenwriters, whose works have potential. I help them all the way through, acting for them also as a sales agent. As a distributor or sales agent, you always look for a long term relationship with the filmmakers, above and beyond selling their single projects at hand. Our formula, as expressed by our company's name, Little Studio Films, resembles the in-house business model, employed by the Hollywood studios in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Back then, actors, filmmakers and screenwriters were kept under contract and considered part of a big family. Little Studio Films operates sim- ilarly, helping filmmakers in every aspect of the process, from casting and preproduction to pro- duction and distribution, includ- ing festival exposure. I mostly pick up films by Italian, o r E u r o p e a n , f i l m m a k e r s , because they are the ones who need the greater help. Could you elaborate on the Italian films you represented a t t h e 2 0 1 6 A F M i n S a n ta Monica? O n e o f t h e m w a s A m e r i c a n Fango by Gabriele Altobelli, a director from Rome. The fin- ished film, shot between Rome, Los Angeles and New York, was produced independently. Initially, the Italian filmmaker needed a song for his movie and asked me to put him in contact with a jazz singer, whom I knew w e l l . E v e n t u a l l y , I w a t c h e d Gabriele's film, I really liked it and decided to sell it internation- ally. I also represented two films, still in development, by the Italian d u o M a r c o R i s t o r i a n d L u c a B o n i , f i l m m a k e r s / p r o d u c e r s from Tuscany. The first is an action/thriller with a US produc- t i o n a n d c a s t , t i t l e d B u s t i n ' P a l e r m o . T h e s e c o n d , Purgatory, is going to be a big- ger scale adaptation of an Italian fantasy graphic novel. Lastly, I'm partnering on a cou- ple of Italian projects with Italy's f i l m c o m p a n y , F i lm e x p o r t Group, based in Rome. Y o u ' r e a l s o p r o d u c i n g Halloweed, a comedy-horror based on a story you've writ- ten. How did you come up with the idea for it? I came up with the idea together with a producer friend of mine, who used to work for Graham King, professional with many producing credits under his belt, including Gangs of New York, The Departed (for which he won the Oscar), and Argo. We were just having a funny conversation about the explosion of the marijuana industry in the US and had the idea of telling t h e s t o r y o f t e e n a g e r s w h o smoke weed during Halloween and, suddenly, turn into their costumes. We developed the story and, then, hired Nick Montalvo, one of the screenwriters in my roster, to write the screenplay. Again in-house, I hired as direc- tors the above mentioned duo, Marco Ristori and Luca Boni, w h o h a d n o t c h e d u p s e v e n movies in the horror genre, suc- cessfully distributed both in the States and Italy. Let's delve deeper into your activity as screenwriting con- sultant and mentor. On the one hand, I've been men- toring students one-on-one on s c r e e n w r i t i n g a t t h e F i l m C o n n e c t i o n F i l m S c h o o l , i n Hollywood. I love working with young, emerging screenwriters and putting my practical exper- tise at their disposal. On the other hand, it often hap- pens that international screen- writers, who sometimes lack even the basics of proper format- ting, seek my guidance to learn how to write in the American way. In fact, the European style of writing is far apart from the Hollywood standard. I ' v e s t a r t e d a n a l y z i n g t h e i r scripts and giving notes, almost as a hobby. By word of mouth, more and more screenwriters from Europe have been reaching out to me. However, I'm very selective in terms of choosing what screenplays are truly going to benefit from my suggestions. Whenever I like a concept, or a specific writing style impresses me, and I can envision the final f i l m , I t a k e t h e s c r e e n w r i t e r under my wing. In conclusion, are you in con- t a c t w i t h L . A . ' s I t a l i a n - American community? I work very closely with the ICE (Italian Trade Commission). Last year, for instance, I was invited as a movie industry rep- r e s e n t a t i v e , t o t a k e p a r t t o Cinema Italy - Miami Italian Film Festival. I love to collaborate with ICE, as well as with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Consulate General of Italy, in Los Angeles. Alexia Melocchi and her old-time studio system in miniature LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Alexia Melocchi, owner of her family-run company Little Studio Films. Photo credit: Tiziana Orsini VALERIO VIALE

• Cover