Italy’s Adler Entertainment and 39Films Team on IP Incubator Writing Box to Foster Collaboration Between Italian and Global Screenwriters (EXCLUSIVE)

Italy’s Adler Entertainment and 39Films have teamed up on an innovative IP incubator called Writing Box that will bring together Italian and global screenwriters with the goal of germinating feature films, TV series and docs for the international market.

The initiative – being launched at Rome’s MIA market next week – is the brainchild of Adler’s Marco Colombo, Mattia della Puppa and Italy-based Argentinian producer Alfredo Federico, founder of Italy’s 39Films. Federico’s credits in the Latin American movie milieu include 2008 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Tropa de Elite” and Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain.”

Adler Entertainment is a Milan-based distributor of indie titles such as Sydney Sweeney-starrer “Immaculate” that has branched out into production in recent years. Their productions include “Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound,” the doc about cult Scottish band Mogwai that has travelled widely on the fest circuit this year.

“We’ve decided to become more active in production and, for an indie company like Adler, the best way to do that is to board projects from their inception and own the IP,” said Colombo (pictured center). He added that screenwriters who join the Writing Box initiative will have the built-in advantage of having access to financing and distribution.

The other advantage is that the Writing Box mentors are Oscar-nominated “Inside Out” co-writer Meg LeFauve, whose writing credits also comprise adoption-themed Showtime move “The Baby Dance” and who produced “The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys” – and subsequently served as co-chair of the Graduate Producers Program at UCLA’s School of Film and Television – and Joe Forte, who penned Harrison Ford thriller “Firewall,” and has also worked in various capacities with Jodie Foster, Warner Brothers, Sony, Paramount, Fox, Amazon, MGM, and ad companies such as Saatchi & Saatchi.

Writing Box will officially kick off with its first residency set to take place April 22-27 in Tuscany in collaboration with Nostos Screenwriting Retreats and with LeFauve and Forte on hand.

Alfredo Federico (pictured, right) pointed out that besides germinating projects for in-house production Writing Box is also looking to attract partnerships with other Italian production companies.

As for projects currently in the Writing Box pipeline, Mattia della Puppa (pictured left) said they all stem from the basic, “banal” but crucial, consideration that when it comes to production “what really makes the difference is the quality of the underlying IP,” he noted.

Below is an initial trio of projects being developed by the Writing Box initiative:

“Azzardo” a drama about a middle-aged woman who becomes addicted to slot machine gambling, based on the novel by the same title by Alessandra Mureddu, published in Italy by Einaudi. Laura Paolucci (“My Brilliant Friend,” “Gomorrah”) and Argentina’s Agustina Macri, who directed
“Soledad” are the writers.

“Neppure un capello,” a film about a group of young anti-fascists who in 1962 kidnapped the Spanish deputy consul in Milan because of his connection to Francisco Franco. The writers are Francesco Trento, Giaime Maccioni and Marco Cipriani.

“Lella,” a biopic about Italy’s female Formula One driver Lella Lombardi, the only woman to date to have scored a top 6 finish in a world championship race. The writers are Francesco Trento, Adele Augruso, and Agustina Macri.