Italy’s Leone Film Group is taking the legacy of its founder, spaghetti Western master Sergio Leone, to the next level. As the Rome-based company run by the maestro’s children, Raffaella and Andrea, celebrates its 35th anniversary, it continues to consolidate its standing as the preeminent supplier of U.S.
indie product to Italy. The Leone’s film and TV production side has been recently growing with a robust slate of high-end content for the international market. Having become the top distribution partner in Italy for U.
S. indies such as Lionsgate, STX Entertainment, Voltage and Black Bear Pictures, the Leone Film Group is now focused on what Raffaella Leone calls the “more difficult task” of “laying the groundwork for our production side in the international arena.” The group’s Lotus Production label, which is now run directly by Raffaella, has a slew of projects in various stages, with new films by James Gray, Isabel Coixet and Gabriele Muccino.
As it ramps up its production division, LFG is busy forging close ties with a galaxy of production partners, from Spain’s Mediapro to Ridley Scott’s Scott Free, to Rodrigo Teixeira’s Brazil-based RT Features and “The White Lotus” producer David Bernad. “We are driven by a strong desire to work as producers with international companies on an equal footing,” says Raffaella, who is the company’s co-owner and CEO. This boost to Leone’s production side is taking place against a backdrop of upheavals in H.