Another day, another Fremantle first-look deal.
The indie production powerhouse, which recently announced first-look partnerships with Kristen Stewart’s Nevermind Pictures and Rachel Weisz’s Astral Projection, has added another creator-driven outfit to its growing stable, announcing a similar deal with Italian production company AlterEgo. The agreement will see the two companies work closely together developing a slate of original films and dramas.
Rome-based AlterEgo was founded by Italian director Stefano Sollima with partners Gina Gardini and Ludovico Purgatori. Their debut feature, Adagio, a gritty crime drama directed by Sollima, premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year. AlterEgo is currently in post-production on Il Mostro, a serial killer drama being made for Netflix. Fremantle co-produced both Il Mostro and Adagio through its Italian subsidiary The Apartment.
The Fremantle deal will see AlterEgo work closely with Fremantle’s Andrea Scrosati, Group COO & CEO, Continental Europe and Christian Vesper, CEO, Global Drama.
“I have had the immense privilege of working with Stefano for over 15 years, he is an incredible talent,” said Scrosati, commenting on the deal. “I feel honored that Stefano, Gina and Ludovico have chosen to join forces with Fremantle, I have no doubts that together we will create something pretty special.”
“We’re thrilled to enter a first-look deal with the international powerhouse Fremantle, a company that has fostered the growth of creative talent around the globe,” the AlterEgo partners said in a statement. “After the fantastic collaboration on our first two projects, we can’t wait to get started on the next adventure with Andrea Scrosati and all his team.”
Fremantle has been busy signing up talent across Europe in a push to expand its fiction division and to hit its target of achieving $3.3 billion in revenue by 2025. The company has first-look or collaborative agreements in place with filmmakers including Angelina Jolie, Luca Guadagnino, Paolo Sorrentino, All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger and his label Nine Hours, Johan Renck and Michael Parets’ Sinestra, and many, many others. Fremantle is owned by European broadcasting giant RTL Group, a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.
