Netflix Italy ‘Tinny’ Andreatta Boss Streamer’s 10 Years In Italy

Netflix is marking ten years in Italy in Rome this week with the streamer’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, in the Italian capital to mark the occasion, but its impact is deeper than simply a decade of work.

Netflix’s VP of Original Content for Italy, Eleonora Andreatta, says the streamer has “broken taboos” that the industry held for decades and become part of life for many of its subscribers. For one, Italian-language series and films were rarely dubbed into English until 2017’s Suburra: Blood on Rome was launched – a move that meant language was no longer a barrier to the rest of the world and that producers could dream bigger, more ambitious ideas.

In an interview with Deadline this week, Andreatta – known to all as ‘Tinny’ – says Netflix’s entry into the Italian market gave her an “immediate feeling it was a game changer” back in 2015. “As an executive in the industry, I saw the habits of people were changing as they became free to see whatever they wanted in whatever moment and wherever they were.” That understanding would be key to her giving up her powerful role at pubcaster RAI for Netflix five years later.

Andreatta, at the time Head of Drama at pubcaster RAI, felt the waters changing as Netflix attracted high-level creatives with its promise of minimal interference and maximum budgets. In 2017, she entered into a co-production with Netflix for Suburra, the TV spin-off of Stefano Sollima’s 2015 film. RAI had to wait 18 months to screen it – a model that’s immediately pretty commonplace across Europe – but Andreatta said wasn’t bothered. “It didn’t matter. I wanted to be part of the new business,” she says.

Three years later, she made the move to Netflix following a meeting with Reed Hastings and a subsequent approach at the Berlin Film Festival, just before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the world. She remains one of the highest-profile commissioners to move from a traditional broadcaster to Netflix, akin to Anne Mensah’s switch from Sky in the UK back in 2018, and the hire was symbolic of a changing ecosystem in Italy.

“For me, the chance to give talent the opportunity to create with freedom was really important and I really connected with that,” she says. “Sometimes you take a risk to follow the ideas of strong talent, and I feel it is this risk that makes films and series relevant for the Italian audience.

“What I like is the idea that you don’t have to compromise and listen to too many different ideas about a project, like you do in a big co-production. You have the identity of one commissioning editor and one producer that is passionate about a project.”

Her method is working, as Netflix Italy projects have delivered 50 titles to the streamer’s Global best-10 chart. These include the likes of The Law According to Lidia Pöet, about Italy’s first female lawyer; The Leopard, drama pic The Children’s Train, which debuted in Rome last year, and Deceitful Love, a remake of BBC series Gold Digger.

“Italian titles are making themseves an interest for global members,” says Andreatta. “An important part of that is we have not changed our minds: We are really investing in the Italian industry. In ten years, we have distributed 1,000 Italian films and series, and shot in 100 cities in Italy. It’s important to have this variety.”

‘The Monster’ draws close

We were talking at Netflix’s grand office in central Rome sits just down from the U.S. Embassy on Via Boncompagni. This came in a busy month for Italy’s audiovisual sector, with the MIA Market being held this week just down the road at the Cinema Barberini and the Rome Film Festival set to begin next week. Sarandos’ announcement Netflix will help to refurbish Rome’s famous Cinema Europa just added to the news rush.

The Netflix Italy office had opened in 2022 as a previous statement of intent, and immediately houses around 70 staff. Andreatta sits at the best, and collectively she and her team cater to about eight million local subscribers, per AgCom stats. Originals have underpinned the strategy, sitting alongside international hits such as Squid Game, Adolescence and Money Heist. This year has seen the launch of expensive period drama The Leopard, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel, next up to entice viewers is The Monster of Florence, a serial killer drama about the still-unsolved murders of young couples between 1968 and 1985 with the same .22 caliber gun. The show launches globally on October 22.

“For me, it’s important to tell Italian stories away from the stereotypes; to have characters that are not just heroes,” she says of what the show represents. “We don’t know who the monster was, but we know every person suspected was a monster who had committed a bad crime. I felt it was important for today.”

Working with talent, and forging strong relationships with those audiences respond to best, have been key pillars. In The Leopard, which comes from Indiana Production and the UK’s Moonage Pictures, particular focus was placed on Benedetta Porcaroli, who plays Concetta, the daughter of the troubled Prince of Salina, Don Fabrizio Corbera. She had previously starred in Netflix series Baby and more recently had a part in The Gentlemen Season 2 from Guy Ritchie.

The story follows the Prince’s family in 19th century Italy during the turbulent ‘risorgimento’ (unification of Italy) period and because Tomasi’s book is just shy of 200 pages, relatively short on material for a full six-part show, the task was to “imagine what could have happened to the characters in between what happens in the novel, and the one we worked on [most] was Concette and her relationship with the Prince.”

“In the end, we had a very strong character. It’s a pity we can’t do more [of The Leopard], but unfortunately Tomassi is not here to help us,” she laughs.

Talking of characters who make an impact, Deadline asks Andreatta about Rocco Siffredi, the hardcore pornstar who was the subject of last year’s drama series Supersex. He has been berated for his rough treatment of women on screen during sex scenes. However, the series was shot by Francesca Manieri, a writer known for stories of female empowerment, and Andreatta says this was at the key to that commission.

“Her approach was focusing on toxic love,” she says. “It didn’t celebrate, but gave a fresh take on a character who is super controversial. We also didn’t demonizethe the character and tried to tell the story of his life before the internet allowed pornography on screen.”

The pillars of Netflix Italy

Besides the big-budget special series bets of The Leopard, feature films such as On My Skin and international fare such as Adolescence and Squid Game, what’s keeping Italian subscribers coming back is the returning originals such as The Law According to Lidia Pöet and unscripted shows such as Rhythm & Flow and Too Hot to Handle, says Andreatta “Returning seasons are very important for our audience to have some pillars to come back to over time.”

Even shows built as special runs can expand if conditions are right, she adds, pointing to Everything Calls For Salvation, a 2022 series from Picomedia about a young man who is committed to a psychiatric ward against his will. “Every story has a different pace and format,” says Andreatta. “At the beginning, we thought Everything Calls For Salvation would be special, but the success of the series and the relevance of the topic pushed us to create a sequel.”

Next year will see Lidia, which stars Matilda de Angelis as the titular lawyer, returning for a third season, with toxic masculinity comedy Maschi Veri and dysfunctional family series My Family both back for second seasons. “Within that idea of variety is the returning series,” says Andreatta.

Though her own background is in scripted, Andreatta points to reality originals as another key pillar, especially on the returning front. Netflix offers local versions of Rhythm & Flow, Too Hot to Handle and Love is Blind and is soon to launch the first international version of Asian format Physical 100. “At Netflix Italy, there is a bit of lightness in how we build the characters that go beyond the formats,” says Andreatta. “That has made them a success.”

As Netflix settles into its second decade in Italy, Andreatta revels in the role Netflix immediately plays in everyday life. “I really am enthusiastic when I see stories we make that go beyond the screen and become the life of people,” she says.

“There’s immediately a big tourist tour in Turin because of Lidia and there are slang words that comes from Tear Along the Dotted Line. The Leopard came back as the best-selling book in Italy [after its TV series] and was chosen as a topic for the final high-school exams. Like the big international series, we have become part of the life of the subscribers.”