Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jan 8, 2017 23:40:18 GMT -6
variety.com/2017/film/news/silence-producer-niels-juul-cecchi-gori-1201954511/
‘Silence’ Exec Producer Niels Juul Returning to Cecchi Gori
Cecchi Gori Pictures and Cecchi Gori USA have tapped “Silence” exec producer and former CEO Niels Juul as a consultant.
The announcement was made in conjunction with Thursday night’s premiere of Martin Scorsese’s historical drama “Silence” at the Directors Guild of America Theatre. Newly named CEO Andrew De Camara made the announcement, which formalizes Juul’s role at the Italy-based company along with reviving the Cecchi Gori brand.
Juul had stepped down as CEO at Cecchi Gori at the end of 2012 but company owner Vittorio Cecchi Gori asked him to stay on the executive producer to finish the work on “Silence.” He also closed a deal with Michael Mann setting up the Enzo Ferrari biopic as well as settling a Cecchi Gori lawsuit in early 2014 against Scorsese, claiming the director had breached an agreement to direct “Silence” as his next movie by first directing “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Cecchi Gori was among Italy’s top production and distribution companies until the mid 1990s. It went through bankruptcy proceedings in Italy, which included the auctioning off of the company’s library which included Oscar-winning pics “Life is Beautiful,” “Il Postino” and Vittorio Gassman’s “Il Sorpasso.”
“If it’s going to be a movie company, it needs to make movies,” Juul told Variety at the premiere.
Juul began working with Scorsese on “Silence” in 2008. Scorsese had launched development in 1990.
“Martin gave me a bear hug in his living room,” he recalled. “My whole thing was to make sure he got it done. I believe in the greatest director of all time.”