04/10/2013 - The founder of Lucky Red will be in charge for the next three years. His programme includes fighting piracy, the development of legal online platforms and transition to digital

Andrea Occhipinti is the new president of the distributor section at ANICA. He was unanimously elected yesterday at the section’s assembly, during which time he thanked the exiting president Richard Borg for his work.

The only man to head Lucky Red, one of the most widely appreciated independent production and distribution companies geared at quality cinema (Adele: Chapters 1 and 2 [+see also:
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“I would like to thank everyone for the faith that has been placed in me,” the newly elected president said, “starting with Richard Borg, who is leaving a distributor section that is much stronger in terms of its capacity to confront the profound changes happening within the market. My first objective will be to make sure that no company is left standing alone before all the challenges that await us. This is possible if the association puts its intents entirely and firmly together. We have many counterparts and we should cultivate the relationships we have with them.”  

“The main battle of the distributor section at ANICA must be to combat piracy,” Occhipinti went on. “In the last few years, spectators have diminished, less DVDs have been sold and paid and free television usage has diminished. Jobs have been lost and as a consequence, taxes owed to the state have gone down. The only thing that is growing is piracy. The number of users is growing, illegal downloading is growing, as is the volume of illegal business tied to these types of activities.”

The development of legal platforms to develop online cinema, a complete transition to digital of cinema markets and the promotion of cinema through ad hoc events such as the Festa del Cinema, were further themes put onto Occhipinti’s programme for the coming three years.  

(Translated from Italian)