The aim of this chapter is to show the strong interdependence between the sectors of production and distribution/exhibition in post-war Italian cinema. To do this, we focus on a little-studied aspect of the Italian film industry: regional distribution. The basic assumption from which we start is that, at least from the end of World War One to the advent of private television networks in 1976, regional distribution constituted the backbone of the Italian film industry. Working as financial enablers, these distributors and exhibitors provided cohesion and continuity in a system otherwise characterised by a fragmented production landscape. In a previous article dedicated to the functioning of the distribution sector and based on data relating to the first-run exhibition of Italian films in the 1959/60 season, we demonstrated that considerable film production finance came from local and mid-sized distributors. Films financed by the ‘minimum guarantee’ (the advance payment made by distributors to producers for the right to distribute films) were not necessarily B-movies aimed at provincial consumption. Consequently, the Italian film industry appeared as a localised variation on the package-unit system described by Janet Staiger, in which post-studio era Hollywood majors, instead of focusing on content production, preferred to finance and release films produced by smaller, independent companies. Arguably, the Italian system worked in a similar way; however, instead of a variety of small- to mid-sized producers providing content to the nation-wide distribution arms of a few big studios, as in Staiger’s account of post-war Hollywood cinema, in post-war Italy a grassroots aggregation of small and medium, often family-run distribution companies funded and released approximately half of the domestic film output, guaranteeing the routine func- tioning of a fragmented national film production sector, made of hundreds of small companies in constant need of financing.. In this chapter, we would like to describe — in light of current knowledge and available documents — the concrete functioning of regional film distribution in 1940s–70s Italy and its role within the industrial system, especially in relation to exhibition. Further analysis of distribution can provide some insights not only for scholars of Italian cinema, but also for those who study any other film industry not conforming to the Hollywood model.
The Missing Link: Regional Distribution and Exhibition in Post-war Italy
F. Di Chiara;
2024-01-01
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to show the strong interdependence between the sectors of production and distribution/exhibition in post-war Italian cinema. To do this, we focus on a little-studied aspect of the Italian film industry: regional distribution. The basic assumption from which we start is that, at least from the end of World War One to the advent of private television networks in 1976, regional distribution constituted the backbone of the Italian film industry. Working as financial enablers, these distributors and exhibitors provided cohesion and continuity in a system otherwise characterised by a fragmented production landscape. In a previous article dedicated to the functioning of the distribution sector and based on data relating to the first-run exhibition of Italian films in the 1959/60 season, we demonstrated that considerable film production finance came from local and mid-sized distributors. Films financed by the ‘minimum guarantee’ (the advance payment made by distributors to producers for the right to distribute films) were not necessarily B-movies aimed at provincial consumption. Consequently, the Italian film industry appeared as a localised variation on the package-unit system described by Janet Staiger, in which post-studio era Hollywood majors, instead of focusing on content production, preferred to finance and release films produced by smaller, independent companies. Arguably, the Italian system worked in a similar way; however, instead of a variety of small- to mid-sized producers providing content to the nation-wide distribution arms of a few big studios, as in Staiger’s account of post-war Hollywood cinema, in post-war Italy a grassroots aggregation of small and medium, often family-run distribution companies funded and released approximately half of the domestic film output, guaranteeing the routine func- tioning of a fragmented national film production sector, made of hundreds of small companies in constant need of financing.. In this chapter, we would like to describe — in light of current knowledge and available documents — the concrete functioning of regional film distribution in 1940s–70s Italy and its role within the industrial system, especially in relation to exhibition. Further analysis of distribution can provide some insights not only for scholars of Italian cinema, but also for those who study any other film industry not conforming to the Hollywood model.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
