Marcello De Bellis, Italy (EMAM 2002)
The Masters I attended, the European Master of Audiovisual Management (EMAM), has been a crucial step for my career into the Cinema Industry. I came from a degree in Philosophy, and my knowledge about cinema and TV was quite theoretical. This Masters gave me the necessary instruments to enter the industry and, maybe more important, to be chosen by a company for the internship programme, part of the training, which gave me the chance to be challenging for a job in the audiovisual industry.
The EMAM gave me the first key to be where I wanted to and to do what I aimed to. I can say that the organization of this course is very good to achieve a general knowledge of all the aspects of Production and Distribution in the audiovisual industry.
I’ve been working for Verdecchi Film, a production and distribution company based in Rome, since the end of January 2003, beginning with the internship provided by the EMAM. The first three months were dedicated to a general overview upon the rules of distribution. I began to take care of short films produced by the company, as set Press Office Assistant for the National and International Festival selections. Meanwhile, I was involved into the first organization of our participation in the Film Market in Cannes, which I attended as sales and acquisition consultant in May 2003.
Since Cannes experience, my role in the company has been more and more defined as a sales manager, for the domestic and the international market. Now I take care of the relationships between the distribution and exhibitors in Italy and I am the Sales Manager for the international sales. Verdecchi Film was at Mifed 2003 as a International Sales Agency, as well, and I attended as Sales and Acquisitions Manager.