11/04/2003

The Coordination Committee set up by Italy’s entertainment sector umbrella association, Agis (Associazione Generale Italiana dello Spettacolo) held its first press conference yesterday, 10 April, in Rome to present the proposals it presented to the Italian government to strengthen the national film industry. Paolo Protti, the president of this committee whose members include representatives of the following leading film industry associations and Agis-members: Acec, Anec, Api, Fac, Fice and cultural associations: Ancci, Cgs, Csc, Fedic, Fic and Uicc said that the main goal was to create a powerful Federation of Italian Cinema or FederCinema to present a unified front in all future negotiations.
Protti also presented a 10-item list of proposals that require urgent intervention that was published in “Giornale dello Spettacolo”: a re-examination of the role of the producer; a greater contribution by distributors to the film production process; more efficient exploitation of available resources; setting down a strategy for growth and more investment in the various stages of film production and promotion. Protti’s committee also called for more stringent legislation to reduce piracy and called for exhibitors to improve their customer services by introducing more equilibrium between the films screened at multiplexes and those in traditional cinemas. Agis also came out strongly in favour of a 12-month film season and called for more support for arthouse and specialist cinemas and circuits.

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The committee is also in the process of drawing up a series of proposals that will bring order to state-run cinema circuits, the relationship between TV and cinema, the introduction of tax breaks and sweeteners and better use of available resources. Protti emphasised the need for the state-run sector to be more enterprising and less bureaucratic and become more pro-active in the production, distribution, exhibition and home video sectors.

(Translated from Italian)