Founded in Rome in 1992, Lux Vide is a distinctive Italian producer with very successful productions in the domestic and international market. After many years leading the local TV market as the leading fiction producer, recently the company looks forward to expanding internationally with more high end projects with focus in Europe and the US market.
Lux Vide, which gained worldwide recognition for its 21-episode series The Bible Collection (RAI 1, 1994-2002, sold in 144 countries) is a leading international TV production company in Europe, the largest in the Italian scripted market, with more than 1,100-plus hours in prime time. Among its hits are the long-running Don Matteo series (12 seasons with 13th in production), Coco Chanel, nominated for two Golden Globes and two Emmys, the DOC medical drama and a large number of international productions.
They are Medici, as well as the iconic three-season story of the eponymous Renaissance dynasty, Devils, with Patrick Dempsey and Alessandro Borghi, distributed in 160 territories (USA, France, Germany, Canada and UK); Rai’ Blanca, an inspirational story with 3D sound recording technique about a blind female detective overcoming her handicap, which been pre-sold to various international territories, and includes Italian singer Andrea Bocelli as a consultant for the show. And “The European Alliance” project is Leonardo, produced with Big Light Productions, Rai, Sony, France Télévisions, RTVE and Alfresco Pictures, which is currently in distribution in Europe, Asia and USA and has garnered record-setting ratings in multiple countries.
Barbara Pavone, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer, initiates: ‘Our distinctive sign is we never stop improving our production processes, we always look to new frontiers on our field and we want to take to the screen universal stories with a global appeal. Every show we make, we look to make the audience think about its purpose whilst also entertaining them. Our DNA is to bring families together to feel good and be inspired about what they are watching, irrespective of backgrounds or beliefs, while providing reinforcement of positivity and values’.
The new strategy, as highlighted, is focusing in the internationalization. ‘With the emergence of streamers there’s an insatiable need for new, high-quality content and, staying true to our roots, our content has been embraced streamers on an international basis. We’re currently expanding our base of commissioning clients, by including platforms and international partners that more and more demand regionally relevant content that also delivers the ability to engage a global viewing audience’, she says.
The prodco is furthering its activities in premium TV drama series category for global audiences with series such as Sandokan, inspired by Emilio Salgari’s popular 19th century adventure novels, made popular throughout Europe in 70s thanks to a successful TV series produced by RAI, and starred by Turkish drama actor Can Yaman. ‘It’s the story of piracy as it has never been told with themes that are as timely now as ever. The pirates are true rebels of their time, they challenge the establishment while also conquering the audience’s imagination’, describes Pavone.
The Shield exec producer Scott Rosenbaum is the showrunner, and will refocus the popular European pirate story with a storyline that will heavily lean into a female perspective, as told by our heroine, Lady Marianna. ‘Audience looks to TV for stories that speak of freedom and adventure, that take us to exotic and wonderful places, away from the closed perspective of the houses in which we have been forced for so long during the last 18-months’, she completes.
The Rising is a next generation English-language historical drama series focusing on what is described as the “human, secular story” of Jesus Christ. ‘Bolstered by the direction of Jan Michelini, and Carlos Rafael Rivera’s soundtrack (Netflix’s hit The Queen’s Gambit) we want to appeal to non-believers, without alienating believers and targeting a young audience’, underlines Pavone.
She continues: ‘As said, an increased demand for high-quality content has been fueled by the rise of competition between global streamers and established broadcasters and networks, who turned to Europe and Italy specifically to fill their insatiable need for fresh and original content of all genres. This has also led to a significantly greater acceptance by US viewers of dubbed and subtitled programming. Only a few years ago it would have been hard to imagine such shows as Gomorra engaging the attention of an American viewing audience’.
According to the executive, this seachange is directly attributable to the acquisition of independent production companies by big international operators, like ITV’s Cattleya or Fremantle’ Wildside. ‘The increasing consolidation and internationalization of Italian podcos evidences the interest towards original and fresh programs’, she indicates.
Another hot topic is rights retention: ‘As rights retention is key for the industry’s larger companies, this is even more relevant for independent companies like us. High end projects are requiring increasingly bigger production budgets which are not fully covered by broadcasters. So it is increasingly of vital importance to maintain ownership of all rights to recoup the overall investment, a sound business strategy which Lux Vide is looking to achieve as it is a necessity in today’s environment’.
Future? Pavone: ‘We will increasingly be pushing into the US and international markets, while also continuing to churn out local product for Rai. We have five shows in the works and several others commissioned by Italian Mediaset and Sky Italia, as well as by global streamers. Continue to have full control of the entire value chain, from creativity to post production and sales, plus further investments in managerial skills and the overall organization will be pivotal for the success of our ambitious plans moving forward’.
Lux Vide will expand its scope including the diversification of its business and beginning to focus on light entertainment. ‘We will therefore create entertainment formats, with the aim of addressing an even wider market already inhabited by players that move precisely across multiple genres. We also want to focus our strategy to further develop our wide portfolio of IP’s, announcing new ones (Sandokan), that will be exploited through such varied media platforms as comic books, video games and other formats beyond the original TV series’, concludes Pavone.
