Gaumont branches into Italian market, hires Marco Rosi as local GM

Gaumont is behind Netflix’s French-language hit Lupin

France- and LA-based producer Gaumont has set up shop in Italy and revealed a slate of local originals, with Marco Rosi joining the company as its general manager in the country.

Rome-based Rosi, who was previously head of international coproductions at Italian prodco Lux Vide, will lead a dedicated team across development and production. He will report to Gaumont vice-CEO Christophe Riandee.

Gaumont, which has built its international reputation with hits including Lupin, Barbarians and Narcos, now has operations in the US, the UK, Germany and France in addition to the new Italian office, which will focus on Italian-language TV series. The company also said its Rome office may be interested in developing and producing feature films in the future.

Projects on the development slate include a murder mystery set within the walls of the Vatican. The series is being developed in collaboration with Elsinore Film and is written by director Fausto Brizzi (Notte prima degli esami, Ex) and screenwriter Paola Mammini.

Gaumont is also developing a drama series based on Massimo Carlotto’s book E verrà un altro inverno, which tells the story of an Italian noir author. The project is written by Carlotto together with Claudia De Angelis, Giovanni Galassi, Tommaso Matano and Ivano Fachin.

The third in-development project is an LGBTQIA+ dramedy from emerging writer Alessandra Maffiolini, who is writing alongside director Paola Randi.

Global media rights to the Italian projects were negotiated by Rosi in collaboration with Italian boutique law firm Bellettini-Lazzareschi-Mustilli.

During his tenure at Lux Vide, Rosi worked on titles such as Medici, Devils and Leonardo. Before that, he led the programming efforts of both linear and non-linear channels at Fox International Channels Italy and Turner Broadcasting Italy.

“We are excited to expand our footprint in Italy and thrilled to become a home for Italian talents,” said Riandee. “I’ve known Marco for years and I’ve always praised his good taste, his solid experience and his ability to nurture projects and mentor talents. He is such a great addition to the Gaumont teams around the world.”

Rosi added: “I am certain that the arrival of Gaumont in Italy will further contribute to enhancing the creativity of the many talents in the Italian audiovisual sector, while further boosting the economic growth of the industry.”