Fremantle restructures in Italy

European production giant Fremantle is launching a new label in Italy and restructuring its senior team in the country.

Andrea Scrosati

From January 1, Fremantle’s activities in Italy will be developed through three separate entities, all controlled by FremantleMedia Group.

The first will be new label The Apartment, which will focus on the creation of drama and movies produced with international writers and talent.

The Apartment will position itself as an “incubator” of major projects, according to Fremantle, which will then offer executive production to partner companies.

The Apartment will oversee soon-to-air series already produced by Fremantle Italia head Lorenzo Mieli, including Paolo Sorrentino’s The New Pope, Saverio Costanzo’s My Brilliant Friend – The Story of a New Name and Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are. Mieli will act as CEO of the new label.

The second entity will be existing label Fremantle Italia, which will focus on the production of the entertainment shows in Fremantle’s global catalogue, such as The X Factor and Got Talent, licensed third-party formats, soaps, documentaries, talkshows and reality shows. Fremantle Italia will be led by current chief operating officer Gabriele Immirzi, who will become CEO, while Mieli will remain president.

The third entity will be Wildside, in which Fremantle holds a majority stake and will take full control of in 2020. Wildside will continue to manage its activities in the creation and executive production of TV drama and movies. Fremantle said it will consolidate and expand Wildside’s position in the Italian and international markets through new investments in talent and IP. The firm will be headed by CEO Mario Gianani, who co-founded the label with Mieli.

Andrea Scrosati, COO of Fremantle, said: “Italy is one of the most relevant Fremantle territories for outstanding creative output and business success. These results have been achieved mainly thanks to the extraordinary work carried out by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani who have created incredibly successful global TV dramas, movies and entertainment shows.

“This new structure is built around these unique talents to empower them even more and to support the potential and extraordinary creative talent of our Italian team as a whole.”