Interview with Alberto Pasquale, director of Umbria FIlm Commission
Locations that transport you to the Middle Ages, a Regional Fund of €1.5 million, focus on local professionals
Umbria, “the green heart of Italy”, one of the Boot’s smallest regions, boasts a notable number of borgos that are well known to the wider public – 63 with less than 5,000 inhabitants – not only as tourist destinations, but also as the locations for successful domestic and international films and series. The area also has much to offer in terms of landscape, with multiple wooded hills, two lakes, waterfalls and springs – all as useful for contemporary settings as they are for costume dramas.
One of Italy’s longest running TV series shoots here, Don Matteo (locations), continues to enchant the public with the beauty of its locations, to the point that a “war of the bell towers” between two municipalities took place after the 8thseason when the production company Lux Vide decided to move the main setting from Gubbio to Spoleto.
Productions choosing to shoot in Umbria may take advantage of the recently instituted film commission and an annual film fund of €1.5 million managed by the Region since 2021.
“We don’t yet have the final figures of the films participating in the 2021 call which included, among others, Pupi Avati’s Dante (locations) and Marco Bocci’s La caccia (locations), while financing linked to 2022 has recently been announced – explains Alberto Pasquale, director of Umbria Film Commission since January 2022 —.To evaluate the multiplier effect, and I would be very cautious about the measurability of that, it is enough to compare what was disbursed with what was actually spent in the region. In any case, to joke lightly about it, I would say that the multiplier works best when productions come to Umbria without requesting any funding, except perhaps logistics assistance services. In these cases, the Regione’s communication campaigns and the word of mouth of the numerous tourists who visit Umbria, thanks also to events like Umbria Jazz and the Festival dei Due Mondi, multiply interest in the region”.
Umbria Film Commission was only recently established. What are the strengths of your Film Commission in supporting productions?
Umbria Film Commission is like a start-up where the organizational structure is becoming clearer day by day
The participatory foundation Umbria Film Commission has been active since April 2021 but the director was nominated only 18 months ago. It is worth noting that the production support we provide should not be confused with the financing managed by Regione Umbria through the Umbria Film Fund. In that sense, the Film Commission carries out a simple function of technical support.
The “green heart of Italy” has long been one of the most recognizable and recognized settings for a range of productions, films, series, advertising and TV entertainment, even before the existence of UFC. The creation of a specific Film Commission – whose majority partner is the Regione Umbria, with the Comunes of Perugia and Terni and the Associazione nazionale dei Comuni (ANCI) of Umbria – is part of the reorganization of regional interventions in the industry which are all summarized in the imminent regional law “Disposizioni in materia di valorizzazione delle attività cinematografiche e audiovisive”, which assigns a leading role to the Umbria Film commission.
In general, we still consider ourselves to be something of a start-up and our organizational structure is actually defining itself day by day. We identify our strengths in the present situation in the rapid response to requests and in the priceless collaboration of the municipalities. In terms of size, Umbria stands 16th out of the 20 regions of Italy, 17th for population and overall GDP (10th for per-head value) and 19th in terms of municipalities. Our smaller size (two provinces and 92 municipalities) facilitates coordination between the various institutions involved. It should also be noted that UFC is part of the Regional Tourism Board (Assessorato Regionale al Turismo), meaning we receive special support for any need linked to the visibility of the territory and hospitality for those interested in shooting here.
Why should productions choose to shoot in Umbria?
Umbria: green heart of Italy, perfect for Medieval settings, close to Rome
The region offers a notable variety of locations, in terms of both architecture and landscape. There are cities and borgos that are well known to the wider public, not only because of their use in film and TV productions: Amelia, Assisi, Bevagna, Castelluccio di Norcia, Città della Pieve, Città di Castello, Gubbio, Narni, Orvieto, Perugia, Spello, Spoleto, Terni, Todi… I could go on. There are woods in abundance (the green heart…) and two lake landscapes, Trasimeno and Piediluco, for which we receive numerous location requests. I will add the spectacular Marmore Waterfalls, the sources of the Clitunno and Valnerina Rivers with the latter hosting rafting. The numerous films and series with Medieval settings include The name of the rose, series directed by Giacomo Battiato (locations), Chiaraby Susanna Nicchiarelli (locations), and Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta (locations).
In parallel to the beauty of the place, the Region also offers excellent hospitality, with hotels across a range of price levels and a globally famous food and wine tradition. Many celebrities spend their holidays here or have bought villas and farmhouses in search of an oasis of peace. To give just one example, Terry Gilliam is now an honorary citizen of Montone, splendid village in the upper Tiber valley and headquarters of the historic Umbria Film Festival, now in its 27th year, which he presides. It should also be held in consideration that Umbria is not far from Rome making it easy for production companies based in the Capital to reach.
An important attraction is obviously the Umbria Film Fund which, as previously mentioned, is managed directly by the Regione. Two annual calls – each worth a total of €1.5 million – have been published, in 2021 and 2022. We look forward to the Regione continuing in this way, perhaps with an increased total in order to increment the range and number of projects taking place in the territory.
I would also like to note that the studios which hosted the shoot of Roberto Benigni’s Oscar-winning Life is Beautifulare in Papigno (Terni) [the concentration camp was built at Papigno, all the locations of Life is Beautiful Ed.], where he also worked on Pinocchio, in addition to other productions. Although inactive at present, we continue to hope in a reopening. There is no shortage of projects, it is essential though to put the various public and private operators together.
Any anecdotes/fun facts to tell us? For example, what are the most surprising and first-time locations that you’ve suggested for productions?
A number of productions search for unusual, unseen locations, to avoid that “already seen” look and to add a touch of originality to their work. These will not always be recognisable. For example, for Mixed by Erry, Sydney Sibilia shot scenes in Perugia in a disused prison (all the locations). When I met him after the film’s release, he joked that the scenes came out so well that he didn’t want anyone else to know where they were shot to retain a “perpetual exclusive”. Carla, directed by Emanuele Imbucci, about Carla Fracci, shot in part in Orvieto, with several rooms in the former Piave prison serving as the dressing and rehearsal rooms of the Scala Theatre where the famous dancer performed.
La Scarzuola, where St Francis resided and where Tommaso Buzzi built his city-theatre
A most appreciated and unusual location is, without doubt, La Scarzuola in Montegabbione (Terni). A small, eccentric architectural jewel, it is the setting for Milanese architect Tommaso Buzzi’s Ideal City. It is said that St. Francis built a hut here in 1218 having planted a rose and a laurel tree and that a spring miraculously burst forth. The hut was made from a marsh plant known as “Scarza”, which gave it the name Scarzuola. The Counts of Marsciano built a convent there. In 1956, the convent and all the surrounding property was bought by Buzzi who built his surreal, extraordinary construction.
La Scarzuola is a private park which can be visited with a booking. Marco Solari, grandson of Tomaso Buzzi and owner of La Scarzuola, accompanies the visit. Solari is a very unusual person, there should be a documentary about him. He tells stories of esoterism, spirituality and astrology linked to the places as you walk. He lives in the adjacent convent and if you don’t treat it with the right respect, he will refuse access to the park. In 2020 this was the setting for a Gucci perfume advertisement starring Anjelica Huston. There are many anecdotes about the productions that have shot at La Scarzuola, but it’s best to have Solari tell the stories, he certainly doesn’t mince words…
How does Umbria Film Commission support productions?
From location scouting to providing technical personnel, there are various levels of support offered. And a constantly updated database of industry professionals
We offer a range of levels of support to arriving productions. Some are Level 0, when the companies are totally autonomous, either because of previously acquired knowledge (e.g. Don Matteo now in its 14th season) or because the producers make direct contact with the municipalities. This situation came about due to the absence of the Umbria Film Commission (until 2021). There is a coordination meeting scheduled shortly with all the municipalities of the Region, to uniform the types of support we offer and to identify key figures in the various places for granting permits and various authorizations. Then there is our support for location scouting, which obviously could lead to the decision to shoot in one place or another, and everything we do to support the recipients of grants from the Umbria Film fund. We supplied logistical support, alongside the Comune of Perugia, to The Dadchelor, a Dutch film (Netflix this autumn), that shot in Perugia recently. An episode of 4 Hotels with Bruno Barbieri shot in various places in Umbria: they required accommodation for the crew and assistance to check the availability of specific places for several scenes.
In other cases, productions ask us for names to fill certain crew positions (e.g., grips, electricians, drivers, makeup artists etc.). Then we access our database of industry professionals in Umbria that is always growing: before a person is included in it, their professional experience is carefully checked.
Recently we supplied significant logistic and communication support for the casting of a film that received a grant from the Film Fund 2022. They were looking for children aged between 5 and 11, including several pairs of identical twins. No less than 400 children in Umbria were interviewed and a further 500 contacted via email: the successful outcome was beyond our expectations, surprising even the casting department.
In general, while it is true that we do not yet have a census of the number of productions that have been supported, it is also the case that multiple production companies are finally discovering the existence of an active and fully functioning Film Commission.
What are your future projects?
A new location database and a focus on training to increment the quantity and quality of local industry professionals
The areas of improvement are firstly the location database, which we are going to completely reorganize. Then there is training: we need to improve quantity and quality of the production professionals required by productions. Furthermore, we have also noted the need to work on the business network in the region: there are not enough local cinema-TV producers able to operate at the national and international levels.
One of our key activities is the second edition of Film Business Think Tank, a high-level meeting held in a luxury resort which explores the economic-financial state of the audiovisual system, with important national and international players and a group of selected financial journalists.
There are various productions arriving but we can’t talk about that yet because the management of communication is, quite rightly, led by the production companies. However, there is no lack of happy surprises.