Nils Hartmann: Last News

Sky Studios has poached Academy Award-nominated producer Tobias Rosen from Warner Bros. International Television Production to the newly-created role of Vice President in Germany.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Twin directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who are known to Berlin Film Festival audiences for stylishly gritty dramas “Boys Cry” and “Bad Tales,” are back with eclectic detective series “Dostoevskij,” premiering in the fest’s Berlinale Special section. Set in the stark Roman hinterland, the six-episode show — produced by Sky Studios with Rome’s Paco Cinematografica — stars Filippo Timi (“Vincere,” “The Eight Mountains”) as Enzo Vitello, a policeman whose mind is warped by an incident involving his daughter Ambra.

Sky Studios Italia has unveiled a restructure and new leadership team on the final day of the MIA Market in Rome.

Sky Studios is developing prequel series to Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Emmy-nominated “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore will play the Venice Film Festival’s master of ceremonies in the upcoming second season of the Italian version of “Call My Agent,” which will also feature a cameo by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera. Impacciatore, wearing a red gown, disembarked from a water taxi at the Excelsior Hotel pier on the Venice Lido on Saturday welcomed by Barbera, as cameras rolled for a key scene in the show.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sky Italia celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Tuesday by announcing a rich slate of upcoming originals, including a second season of the Italian adaptation of “Call My Agent,” which will see “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore joining the cast. The Sky Italia originals slate comprises previously announced high-end drama “M. Son of the Century” by British director Joe Wright, alongside less lavish shows in various stages – most of which have international potential. It underscores how the Italian unit of the Comcast-owned pay-TV service continues to be a major Italian industry driver. While Sky’s German unit, which is believed to be up for sale, has put production on pause, Sky Italia is cranking out Italian originals through the platform’s Sky Studios unit at a steady pace, showing no signs of a slowdown.

Ben Croll Speaking at a panel organized by Series Mania’s Forum, executives from Sky Studios touted flexibility and autonomy as their keys to success, teasing further synergies with fellow Comcast-owned services like Peacock and SkyShowtime while emphasizing that such broadcast bids were but one option among many. “[We take things] very case-by-case,” said Meghan Lyvers, director of original drama at Sky Studios U.K. “Not all projects that we develop as Sky Originals in Europe will go into the SkyShowtime cluster of territories, [but] they can. And we [welcome] this flexibility, because it allows projects to come to us with other territories attached.”  

K.J. Yossman Luca Marinelli has been cast as Benito Mussolini in Joe Wright’s upcoming biopic series for Sky. Variety revealed last month that Wright, who recently finished promoting his feature film “Cyrano,” was set to direct the series chronicling Mussolini’s rise to power against a backdrop of fascism and World War II. Wright also helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” which saw Gary Oldman nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the former British prime minister. “M. Son of the Century” is based on Antonio Scurati’s book and is set to go into production at Cinecittà Studios in Italy over the next few weeks. Wright will direct all eight episodes.

K.J. Yossman Sky Studios has appointed Tobias Rosen as vice president of Sky Studios Deutschland.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGangland warfare and a Romeo and Juliet romance with a twist are the main elements of Sky Studios’ first Italian in-house production ‘Blocco 181,’ which is set against the backdrop of a gritty multi-ethnic Milan that has never appeared on screen before.The eight-episode show – which launches this week on Sky in the U.K. after making a splash in Italy – is lead-directed by London-based Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi, best known for art-heist thriller “The Burnt Orange Heresy” starring Mick Jagger as a shady art collector.“It’s a dark fable combining crime, romance, sex, and coming-of-age elements,” said Capotondi who besides directing the series, also co-penned the “Blocco 181” screenplay.

Sky has unveiled a drama series chronicling Benito Mussolini’s rise to power based on Antonio Scurati’s book.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFollowing “Gomorrah” and “The Young Pope,” Sky continues to bring to the screen fresh edgy TV series with “The King,” which is Italy’s first prison drama but transcends genre tropes to recount the country’s complex way of contending with evil forces, including terrorism.The dark skein, currently playing in Italy on Comcast-owned Sky’s pay-TV service –– and premiering internationally in competition at Series Mania –– is the brainchild of Italian A-list actor Luca Zingaretti, best known as the titular character in Italy’s widely exported “Inspector Montalbano” series.After playing a a simpatico Mafia-fighting Sicilian sleuth in “Montalbano,” Zingaretti “wanted to do a show set in an Italian maximum security penitentiary and play a character who was the head of this jail,” says “The King” producer Lorenzo Mieli. Zingaretti’s character, named Bruno Testori, is the “supreme ruler” of the San Michele penitentiary, which is packed with hard core criminals of various types and located on an unspecified Italian border zone that is not subjected to Italian law.“Being the custodian of these evil people, he has to negotiate with evil,” says Mieli.

Sky Studios Chief Content Officer Jane Millichip is departing the Comcast-owned pay-TV giant after nine years amid a wider restructure.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Gucci family saga isn’t quite over.Just months after the release of Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” — a film that could see Lady Gaga nominated for her second Oscar — a TV drama and documentary focusing on the Gucci family is in the works from Comcast-backed Sky Studios.The company is in early stages of development on a high-end TV series, and is in pre-production on a documentary series, both of which will tell “the story of a great family and a great brand,” says producer Nils Hartmann, senior VP for Sky Studios Germany and Italy.Both projects were brought to Sky by Leone Film Group, which has an agreement with several members of the Gucci family, including Alessandro Gucci, Guccio Gucci Jr. and Giorgio Gucci.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWhen HBO Max drops the fifth and final season of Neapolitan gangster saga “Gomorrah” on Jan. 27, it will also mark the end of a convoluted seven-year journey for Italy’s most widely exported TV show.“In Italian TV, there is a before and after ‘Gomorrah,’” says Nils Hartmann, senior VP of Germany and Italy for Sky Studios, the production arm of the pay TV operator that originated the gritty, hyperrealistic crime skein.Besides attaining megahit status in Italy, the show has traveled to 190 countries, including the U.S., where it ran into snags due to the misdeeds of Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Co.’s 2018 bankruptcy.“It was a big mess,” says Oliver Bachert, sales chief at Germany’s Beta, which was selling the show.

Naman Ramachandran Sky Studios has promoted “Gomorrah” and “The New Pope” producer Nils Hartmann to the newly created position of senior VP Sky Studios Deutschland and Italia, reporting into Jane Millichip, chief content officer for Europe. Hartmann, a native German, will lead the development, commissioning and production of Sky Original dramas and comedies for Sky Deutschland while retaining his current responsibilities for producing scripted Sky Originals for Sky Italia, where he has served since 2003.

Sky Studios’ Devils and Gomorrah producer Nils Hartmann has had his role expanded to oversee both Germany and Italy, replacing Marcus Ammon in the former.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe fifth and final season of Neapolitan mob series “Gomorrah” was unveiled Monday during an emotionally charged Rome event saluting the end of the gritty, groundbreaking show.As Nils Hartmann, senior director of Sky Italia original productions, put it during the press conference, in Italian TV “there is a before and after ‘Gomorrah.’”The hyper-realistic crime skein is Italy’s greatest TV export, having sold to 190 territories since its 2014 launch, despite being subtitled even for Italian audiences, most of whom don’t understand the Neapolitan dialect in which “Gomorrah” is voiced.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentEuropean pay-TV platform Sky will unveil an Italian adaptation of French hit series “Call My Agent,” and thriller series “Europa,” directed by German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel, who helmed the Oscar-nominated “Downfall,” at an event Friday at the Rome MIA Market.The Italian “Call My Agent” remake is being produced by Palomar, the Rome-based company controlled by France’s Mediawan, which originated the hit show set at a Parisian talent agency (pictured).“Whereas ‘Call My Agent’ is quintessentially Parisian, this will be quintessentially the [Rome-based] world of Italian cinema,” Nils Hartmann, senior director of Sky Italia original productions, told Variety.

Sky Studios has expanded the remit of chief content officer Jane Millichip from just the UK to all of Europe.

By Elsa Keslassy