The creation of an Abruzzo Film Commission Advisory Board in North America (AFCAB) has finally obtained the go-ahead from Mauro Febbo, the councilman for the Abruzzo region, which is in Central Italy, and is now proceeding at full speed.
The AFCAB will be made up of talented individuals of Abruzzese origins from the U.S. and Canada who work with Hollywood. It has been reported that Abruzzo has the greatest number of talents in the audiovisual field with Hollywood ties than any other Italian region. Examples include Alan Alda, Michael Bublé, Ariana Grande, Patty LuPone, Madonna, Cristina Rosato, and Annabella Sciorra.
The AFCAB’s priority will be to leverage the talent of Hollywood’s Abruzzese co-regionals to bring television and film productions to Abruzzo. The new entity will be officially announced this November during the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California, with a conference and a reception.
The AFCAB was born thanks to the work of Francesco Di Filippo, director of Abruzzo’s Culture and Landscape department (who brought the idea to the attention of the newly elected Mauro Febbo, councilman for Economic, Tourism, Cultural, and Entertainment Activities for the Abruzzo Region Government), after years of lobbying from VideoAge‘s own Dom Serafini, himself of Abruzzese origins.
Pictured from l. to. r., during the meeting that sealed the creation of the AFCAB at the Abruzzo Region Government offices in Pescara are: Francesco Di Filippo, Dom Serafini, Mauro Febbo, Paolo Di Maira, director of Cinema & Video International, and Donato Silveri, head of Work Group, Abruzzo Film Commission, which AFCAB is a part of.
Serafini will focus on the development of the AFCAB from New York City and Los Angeles, while Di Maira — an Italian film commission expert (who also hails from Abruzzo) — will assist with bringing attention to the structure and mission, as well as the promotion of the Abruzzo Film Commision.
I feel it is a wonderful initiative!
Obviously I do not know the details , but I think that it can open up many potential channels of initiatives and collaboration between the States and Abruzzo.
I hope to hear more about it. Thanks, Marcello Maviglia,MD,MPH
Abruzzo is such a great place to make films. It’s such a beautiful area, with historical buildings from pre-roman, through the middle ages, up into the modern age. It has nature preserves and national parks that preserve plants and animals and eco systems found no where else on earth.