Gianni Nunnari (born 10 August 1959) is an Italian film and television producer and executive.
Early life
After completing his studies, he followed the footsteps of his father, Alexander Nunnari, and began his career in the film business.
Career
After graduating from Pareto college, Gianni began his career working at
Dick Randall
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Life and career
Dick Randall was born ...
, a
Hong Kong
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-based foreign sales company, known for distributing
Bruce Le
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Bruce Li
Bruce Li (; born Ho Chung-tao; 5 June 1950) is a Taiwanese actor, martial artist and Bruce Lee imitator who starred in martial arts films from the Bruceploitation movement.
Career
He went to play a stuntman in Taiwan and Hong Kong under the na ...
and also the very first
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
movies.
Soon after the death of his father, he joined
Mario Cecchi Gori
Mario Cecchi Gori (; 21 March 1920, in Florence – 5 November 1993, in Rome) was an Italian film producer and owner of companies. He produced over 200 films, notably with Damiano Damiani, Dino Risi (''The Easy Life'', ''I Mostri'') and Ettore Scol ...
and his son, Vittorio, to export their commercial Italian feature films.
Cecchi Gori Pictures
At age 25, Nunnari moved to Hollywood to expand the market horizon and product slate for Cecchi Gori Pictures and to distribute European films for the US market.
In 1991, Cecchi Gori produced Mediterraneo, which Nunnari and Cecchi Gori sold to Miramax before becoming a hit in the United States. It was subsequently awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Next, Nunnari convinced his friend Massimo Troisi, a Neapolitan film star primarily known for his peculiar comedic approach in film, to direct and star in Il Postino. The film became the final motion picture in Troisi’s career, as the star and director suffered a fatal heart attack the day after production wrapped. The critically acclaimed film was released posthumously and was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, winning one for its musical score.
Nunnari’s most notable success in producing foreign films for the US market was Life Is Beautiful, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. Nunnari orchestrated the distribution of the film worldwide, and it went on to win multiple awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Original Score. It returned over $25 million for Cecchi Gori, in addition to recouping the initial approximately $6 million production investment.
Nunnari was then appointed to oversee Penta Films, alongside Cecchi Gori and
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
, to produce Hollywood commercial movies in the style of the Cecchi Gori films. Following his accomplishments in production, Nunnari expanded his business knowledge into entrepreneurial efforts, opening the popular Los Angeles restaurant Ago; among the restaurant’s partners are Meir Teper, co-owner of the acclaimed Nobu chain, and
Robert De Niro.
Independent producer
Striking out as an independent producer of motion pictures, Nunnari produced the hit film
Se7en, which would take in over $327 worldwide, and
From Dusk Till Dawn
''From Dusk till Dawn'' is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and ...
, starring
George Clooney and
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...
for
Miramax. It was Clooney’s first starring role on the big screen and became an instant success and a cult classic. In more recent years, Nunnari has produced several films for director Martin Scorsese, includingThe Departed, which would win Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, Shutter Island, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and earned nearly $300 million worldwide, and Silence, which received rave reviews and the AFI ranked as one of its ten Movies of the Year.
Hollywood Gang Productions
In the late 1990s, Nunnari founded the production company Hollywood Gang Productions. The company produced big-budget commercial spots, becoming one of the pioneers in using big Hollywood stars, such as Oscar-winners Robert De Niro and director
Giuseppe Tornatore (
Cinema Paradiso).
Segueing into feature film production, Nunnari and Hollywood Gang produced the feature film 300, directed by Zack Snyder, starring Gerard Butler, and based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. The film took in over $700 million worldwide. Nunnari built the IP into a franchise with the sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, starring Eva Green, Lena Headey, and Rodrigo Santoro. The company also produced the features Immortals, starring Henry Cavill, Everybody’s Fine, starring Robert De Niro and Kate Beckinsale, and most recently, The Domestics, starring Kate Bosworth and Tyler Hoechlin, which became one of the first pictures produced under the revived Orion Pictures label.
In 2016, Hollywood Gang produced its first television series, Start-Up, released by Sony's streaming services Crackle, executive produced by Nunnari.
Personal life
Nunnari is the father of two girls, Giulia, from a previous marriage, and Caterina, with actress
Vanessa Hessler
Vanessa Hessler (born January 21, 1988) is an Italian-American model and actress. A model since she was 15, Hessler has appeared in many publications throughout Italy, Germany and France.
Early life
Daughter of an Italian mother and an American ...
, whom he currently resides with in Malibu.
Producing credits
Film credits
Television credits
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunnari, Gianni
1959 births
Italian film producers
Living people