AN INTERVIEW WITH Massimilliano Filippini, PRODUCER

As a producer, please introduce yourself.

My name is Massimiliano Filippini and I am the production and communication manager of Cameraworks S.r.l., a company based in Rome, Italy, founded in 2003. After a 20-year career as a manager in multinational companies

in the IT sector, 15 years ago I landed in the film industry by joining Cameraworks S.r.l. as a shareholder,

bringing the managerial experience I had gained previously.

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Why you became a producer?

 Everything started almost by chance. Cameraworks was founded by two old family friends of mine who

had always worked in the film industry. One of my partners is a great cinematographer, his name is

Gianni Mammolotti. It was Gianni and his brother Antonio who convinced me to join the company

because they needed to make a further quality leap, as Cameraworks had started as a film and television service.

I had courage and allowed myself to be convinced; I knew almost nothing about film technology.

The desire to start a new adventure prevailed over common sense.

Give some more information about yourself and the films you have
made so far, about your experience?

We made our first film in co-production in 2017, it was a medium-length film entitled ‘Uomo’

with 2 famous Italian actors, Mirko Frezza and Valentina Lodovini and the direction of a newcomer

Mattia Bianchini. It was my first experience as a producer and I remember that it was very tiring

to organise all the work. Fortunately, my previous experience in much larger and more complex

fields helped me a lot and after an initial learning curve, everything became ‘easier’.

In 2018, I produced the short film ‘Da Uno a Dieci’ (From One to Ten) by Paula Boschi, whose main

protagonists are Giulia Bevilacqua and Primo Reggiani. Photography was handled by Gianni Mammolotti,

while editing was entrusted to Marco Spoletini. In 2018, I co-produced with CRT Scenamadre,

the short film ‘Whose Earth is it?’ by Daniela Giordano and photography by Gianni Mammolotti.

A beautiful short film winner of 25 awards worldwide.

In 2018, I was entrusted with directing the first Vertical Movie Festival at Piazza del Popolo in Rome

under the artistic direction of Salvatore Marino 2019 I produced as executive producer, the short film

‘Gocce D'Acqua’ by Max Nardari and Marco Matteucci, Photography by Gianni Mammolotti,

protagonist Elisabetta Pellini In 2019, I produced the short film ‘Nessuna è Perfetta’ by Isabella Weiss di Valbranca and photography by Gianni Mammolotti, starring Elisabetta Pellini.

In 2019, I produced as executive producer the short film ‘Da Capo a 12’ by Adamo Dionisi and photography

by Gianni Mammolotti. In 2019, I made as executive producer the film ‘Anime Borboniche’ for the

production ‘Opera Totale S.r.l.’ directed by Paolo Consorti and Guido Morra.

Between 2018 and 2023, I made some commercials for the Italian market as producer.

In 2024, after 2 years of preparation, I produced ‘Alberto Sordi Secret’

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What are the films or people that had impacts on you?

Definitely in first place is Gianni Mammolotti for his boundless passion in his work, his professionalism and

his goliardic way of being on a set, always creating a good atmosphere with the cast, crew, etc.

I have met so many actors and directors, and with many of them we have become friends even off the set.

In particular, Mirko Frezza, Valentina Lodovini, Elisabetta Pellini, Alessandro Borghi, Alexis Sweet (director),

Fioretta Mari, Edoardo Pesce, Francesco Montanari, Alessandro Capone (director), Marco Spoletini (editing),

Pupi Avati (director) etc… From each of these people I have always tried to gain experience,

observing them as they do their work, both actors and directors, precisely in order to continually increase

my professional knowledge. In cinema, I have found a fairly diverse environment in terms of people's

behaviour. Some actors, actresses, and directors have a somewhat discordant attitude that is not very nice,

but many are people with whom I have been able to establish a friendly relationship, people with a lot of humility

and respect for others, particularly with the production staff and crew. Certainly the film world is different

from any other profession, I would say it is a world apart sometimes incomprehensible to those

who see it from the outside.

You have made your film "Alberto Sordi Secret" which got award in the

"American Golden Picture International Film Festival".

As a filmmaker, why you decided to make this film?

Yes, I produced with my company Cameraworks this docufilm also taking care of the whole organisational part.

What were some of the challenges you faced in making this specific film?

First of all, the economic aspect. We produced it with our own forces and the help of external sponsors

who believed in the project right from the start. We did not ask for any state contribution because we wanted

to be able to realise it without state subsidies or constraints. It was an opportunity to establish a

distribution unit in the company. Naturally, I had to do a lot of things myself, the organisation,

the contacts with the actors, the acquisition of exploitation rights for the script, the search for

filming locations, the search for sponsors, casting together with director Igor Righetti (Alberto Sordi's cousin)

and many other things. Since we did not have a significant budget, each of us performed different tasks.

Let us more about your experience in this film?

Great satisfaction. To have been able to realise this unique project, where for the first time facts from

Alberto Sordi's private life are recounted, with black and white fiction scenes set in 1925/1940, costumes

and sets, etc.. It is a great satisfaction because the commitment was enormous, a lot of hard work,

sleepless nights, so for us and for me it was like realising a dream. We are convinced that this docufilm

will be around for many years as it is in fact a biopic. The goal was to create a long-lived project that

would leave tomorrow's youth with the memory and knowledge of a great actor like Alberto Sordi,

who is loved all over the world.

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The Crew member of your film supports the story in a very effective way.

What was it like to work with them?

The relationship with director and screenwriter Igor Righetti has been a friendship for many years,

so it has been easy to work together, in harmony and always with a hint of joy. In general, with the entire crew,

with whom we have worked for a long time, we have always been serene and when we have had some problems,

we have solved them without too much stress. On the set we were about 60 people in total and there was always

a serene atmosphere, lots of laughter and also a lot of jokes...Fortunately we built a work team of good people

but above all people with good character. I always say that technical gaps can be bridged while character

gaps cannot. I take this opportunity to thank the whole crew and all the people who helped us.

I must thank our composer Maria Sicari for making and adapting the music pieces.

I would also like to thank maestro Francesco Daniele and the production company

World Fonogram Srls - Records & Publishing

For you what was the biggest lesson you had to learn after making
this film?

Never to be without water and coffee on set! Joking. Of course there is always something to learn from

the mistakes you make in order to continuously improve. The biggest lesson this project has given me

is definitely to never give up and to keep going even in the hardest moments where everything seems

complicated and unreachable. As I said before, we didn't have a big budget, so it was very tiring

and at times it felt like we couldn't do it. Perseverance and the desire to see it through, prevailed over

the moments of discouragement, especially before the start of shooting, during preparation

and the search for funding.

What keeps you inspired to continue filmmaking?

I can't change my profession because I'm not young anymore! Joking aside, cinema is my life now,

I have become so passionate about this profession, I have invested so much of my time over the last 15 years

and so I cannot and do not want to do anything else. Cinema has something magical and even in the hardest

moments, where you think you would like to change, you can't, it captures you...

The most important part is distributing the film. What did you do
for distributing your feature film?

We have it with our company in 70 Italian cinemas in the UCI Cinemas and The Space circuits.

We have now signed a two-year contract with an agent in India to sell the rights on the Indian market,

we will do the same in Europe, the States, South America and Australia. We are talking to several interested parties.

What are your filmmaking goals?

My dream in the drawer is to one day make a big international film, perhaps in co-production with foreign partners.

What is your next project?

We are working on a film with a fantasy slant. A script has already been written for eight episodes but we will probably start with a feature film from which we will then make a spin-off.

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GOOD LUCK Massimilliano,

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