Film Commission Torino Piemonte closes 2024 with 228 projects realized in the territory and unprecedented visibility on the international scene, and the prospects of a 2025 of further consolidation thanks to the strengthening of investments: over 8 million to support audiovisual production in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Foundation.
“If we look at the results and numbers that Piemonte achieved in 2024 – despite the great uncertainty and the slowdown of the entire national and international production sector – we can say that we are more than satisfied with how our territory has been able to deal with this critical context after the post-pandemic boom. The results achieved in terms of production show the ability to respond with great strength to the general contraction, thanks to the investment over time in the local supply chain of professionals, producers and companies, increasingly structured thanks to the constant investments made available by our institutions. 2024 is also the year characterized by an ever richer and more qualified presence at an international level among festivals, TV and digital platforms”. This is how the President of Film Commission Torino Piemonte Beatrice Borgia comments on the year just ended, together with the Director Paolo Manera who adds: “The further strengthening of the resources made available by Regione Piemonte, namely the 7 million allocated to the production of feature films and TV series - together with the additional resources, approximately one million, to support the development of films and TV series, documentaries and short films made available by the FCTP calls - projects us towards 2025, the year in which the Foundation celebrates 25 years of activity, with an optimistic perspective and with concrete tools to promote the realization of important projects, including 10 feature films and 4 TV series already starting in the coming months.”
“Cinema, a cultural and artistic expression, also represents an important productive activity, capable of generating economic value and employment. Piemonte - declare the regional councilor for Culture Marina Chiarelli and the councilor for Productive Activities Andrea Tronzano - has been able to build a system that enhances both of these dimensions, investing in the audiovisual supply chain to consolidate the entrepreneurial capabilities of the territory, promote our landscape and our culture and create a virtuous process of growth and attraction of new productions. The commitment of the Region - adds Tronzano - is confirmed in the further strengthening of the support tools, with the aim of making our territory increasingly competitive on the national and international scene".
According to the councilor for Culture of the Città di Torino Rosanna Purchia "the year just ended undoubtedly testifies to the persistent consolidation of the important role of Film Commission Torino Piemonte, among the most solid in Italy. The context in which the Foundation has operated has demonstrated how film and audiovisual production is based on constant activity and strong determination, which has been able to protect an industry of work that is an identity for Città di Torino and Regione Piemonte. With the increase in investments in 2025, I am sure that FCTP will have the opportunity to proudly celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary and thus aim to surpass - with this new year - the 228 projects completed in 2024."
The national and international production context and the Piemonte case, between continuity and strengthening of investments
In the global analysis of a year like 2024, marked as we know by a general slowdown in audiovisual production - due to the complex international framework and, in Italy, the long suspension of the main public support measures for the sector - the Piemonte audiovisual sector has been able to show continuity and solidity, guaranteeing overall a high number of productions in the territory, and at the same time has seen a further strengthening of resources made available to the sector for 2025.
There were 228 productions supported by Film Commission Torino Piemonte during 2024, a number in line with the record results of the previous two years, which translated into 1,054 days of filming that brought to the territory, in continuity with previous years, 19 feature films, among which many first and second works stand out, as well as other supported genres - 26 documentaries, 55 short films, 122 commercials, TV formats and video clips - while the impact of the general crisis appears in the number of TV series, 6 during the year, in line with a framework in which the block or postponement was mainly that of high added value projects.
In this context, it was precisely the regional policies supporting the Piedmontese audiovisual sector - first and foremost the Piemonte Film Tv Fund of the Regione Piemonte and the investment of the Fondazione Compagnia di Sanpaolo sul Fondo per lo sviluppo di film e serie TV – which have made it possible to contain the general production slowdown and, at the same time, have made available a further increase in funds with the aim of immediately restarting the path of strong growth that has characterized the territory in recent years, laying the foundations for a relaunch towards the immediate future.
Thanks to the increase in resources made possible by the Regione Piemonte – which in November 2024 during the last Torino Film Industry announced for 2025 an additional 3 million to the already planned allocation of 4 million of the Piemonte Film Tv Fund, for a total of 7 million, - and thanks to the intense work of logistical and institutional support guaranteed by FCTP during the year – there are already 14 feature film and TV series projects that plan to start filming during the year, and there are more than 40 titles that have carried out inspections and feasibility studies, and are awaiting the opening of the 2025 calls to define the production plan.
Calls and services: location scouting, the regional network, the headquarters in Via Cagliari
The three film funds of the Foundation - dedicated to supporting the development and production of documentaries (Piemonte Doc Film Fund), the production of short films (Short Film Fund), and the development of fiction and animated films and TV series (Piemonte Film Tv Development Fund) - have operated for the year 2024 with a total endowment of €900,000, supporting 31 projects only in the first window of June 2024 (*), namely the development of 12 documentaries and the production of a further 8, the production of 4 short films, and the development of 6 feature films and 1 TV series.
In particular, during the year it was also possible to activate a specific promotional and internationalization activity related to the “Piemonte Film Tv Development Fund”, with actions structured in markets and events with high potential, from the Berlinale to the Venice Film Festival, up to MIA Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo: this opportunity was made possible thanks to the support guaranteed by the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo - always alongside FCTP to make cinema a driver of development of the territory - which, as part of a two-year agreement with the Regione Piemonte for the two-year period 2023-2024, made it possible to renew and strengthen the call, a fundamental project for talents and independent cinema.
“Cinema and audiovisual are key sectors for the cultural and economic development of Piemonte, in line with our commitment to strengthening strategic supply chains and attracting qualified talents and investments. - says Ezio Raviola of the Management Committee of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo - With the Piemonte Film Tv Development Fund, we support projects that generate concrete impacts on the territory, supporting the creativity of the authors, the growth of local businesses and the internationalization of the sector. The aim pursued is that of ecosystem development, that is, taking action to evolve cultural concepts into solid production projects, distributable on the film market, attracting new funds and co-financiers and positioning Piemonte as a center of excellence in this sector. We also believe that investing in creativity means building a more inclusive and competitive future. For this reason, we confirm our commitment alongside institutions and operators for sustainable, solid and long-lasting growth of this sector."
The support action that the Foundation's Production and Events Office guarantees through its services has maintained a very high level of operation for 2024, operating in constant synergy with the competent offices of the Città di Torino for occupations and permits and organizing 35 location scouting sessions throughout the Piemonte region (12 of which have already been successfully concluded during the year): an activity of great strategic importance that has intensified more and more in recent years also thanks to the contribution of the Torino Camera di Commercio. In continuity with previous years, the Via Cagliari headquarters has hosted 18 different production companies in its spaces, 135 casting days and 78 days of activity at the Sala Paolo Tenna.
For Dario Gallina, President of the Torino Camera di Commercio: "Audiovisual is a strategic asset for the Piemonte economy, with over 900 companies involved and a strong impact on supply chains production and employment. Torino and Piemonte confirm themselves as an attractive hub for national and international productions, especially thanks to the Film Commission Torino Piemonte, its activities and its network. In addition to the industry, cinema enhances the territory and strengthens its tourist attractiveness; for this reason the Chamber of Commerce will continue to support FCTP and invest in the sector, supporting festivals, strategic collaborations and training for young talents. LWorking together, we can build a future in which culture, innovation and economy intertwine to promote our territory”.
Film Commission Torino Piemonte's Rete regionale also continued its consolidation, further expanding its scope of action and signing 30 new memoranda of understanding during the year, thus bringing the number of participating municipalities to 147, representing all the provinces. A path that increasingly facilitates filming in the region and which in 2024 accompanied 33 productions (including 9 feature films and 3 TV series) in the preparation and filming in municipalities adhering to the Network, and involved the representatives of local institutions in the previews held during the year.
Growing international promotion: reviews, festivals and previews in the area
While the increase in funding for the current year will certainly significantly fuel the investment mechanism in Piemonte, it is precisely thanks to the constant policies of support for the audiovisual sector that local institutions have been guaranteeing for years to the sector and the activity of FCTP that 2024 has brought excellent results in terms of international promotion and consolidation of the supply chain.
From Rotterdam to the Berlinale and the Cannes Film Festival, from Tribeca to the Locarno Film Festival, to the Venice International Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival, there are as many as 28 titles supported by FCTP that have been selected in the main international festivals: a record number that, thanks to very high-quality projects such as “I dannati” by Roberto Minervini, “Le Délugè” by Gianluca Iodice, “Samia – Non dirmi che hai paura” by Yasemin Şamdereli and Deka Mohamed Osman, “L’amica geniale – stagione quattro” and “La legge di Lidia Poet – stagione seconda”, continues to strengthen the international positioning of Torino and Piemonte.
At the same time, during 2024, FCTP once again confirmed its ever-increasing attention to communication and marketing, organizing 18 previews to promote the theatrical release or broadcast of projects created with its support, in collaboration with production companies and the most important national broadcasters, and with the commitment to work increasingly together with cinema exhibitors and associations in the area, together with 15 moments of press activity and/or set visits. It should also not be forgotten that, on the industry and b-to-b front, FCTP once again coordinated the 7th edition of TFI Torino Film Industry, in synergy and collaboration with the Museo nazionale del Cinema and the Torino Film Festival, an initiative in constant growth that has successfully positioned itself among the leading events of the audiovisual and industry professionals, with a record number of 1,500 accredited.
(*) the 2nd session of the 3 calls (deadline for project submission December 2024) will complete the preliminary investigation work and the communication of the results and related data in the next few weeks.