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Netflix is marking ten years in Italy in Rome this week with the streamer\u2019s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, in the Italian capital to mark the occasion<\/a>, but its impact is deeper than simply a decade of work.<\/p>\n Netflix\u2019s VP of Original Content for Italy, Eleonora Andreatta, says the streamer has \u201cbroken taboos\u201d 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\u2019s Suburra: Blood on Rome<\/em> was launched \u2013 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.<\/p>\n More from Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n In an interview with Deadline this week, Andreatta \u2013 known to all as \u2018Tinny\u2019 \u2013 says Netflix\u2019s entry into the Italian market gave her an \u201cimmediate feeling it was a game changer\u201d back in 2015. \u201cAs 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.\u201d That understanding would be key to her giving up her powerful role at pubcaster RAI for Netflix five years later.<\/p>\n 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<\/em>, the TV spin-off of Stefano Sollima\u2019s 2015 film. RAI had to wait 18 months to screen it \u2013 a model that\u2019s now pretty commonplace across Europe \u2013 but Andreatta said wasn\u2019t bothered. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter. I wanted to be part of the new business,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s switch from Sky in the UK back in 2018, and the hire was symbolic of a changing ecosystem in Italy.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the chance to give talent the opportunity to create with freedom was really important and I really connected with that,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I like is the idea that you don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Her method is working, as Netflix Italy projects have delivered 50 titles to the streamer\u2019s Global Top-10 chart. These include the likes of The Law According to Lidia P\u00f6et<\/em>, about Italy\u2019s first female lawyer; The Leopard<\/em>, drama pic The Children\u2019s Train<\/em>, which debuted in Rome last year, and Deceitful Love<\/em>, a remake of BBC series Gold Digger<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cItalian titles are making themseves an interest for global members,\u201d says Andreatta. \u201cAn 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\u2019s important to have this variety.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The Monster\u2019 draws close<\/strong><\/p>\n We were talking at Netflix\u2019s grand office in central Rome sits just down from the U.S. Embassy on Via Boncompagni. This came in a busy month for Italy\u2019s 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\u2019 announcement Netflix will help to refurbish Rome\u2019s famous Cinema Europa just added to the news rush.<\/p>\n The Netflix Italy office had opened in 2022 as a previous statement of intent, and now houses around 70 staff. Andreatta sits at the top, 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<\/em>, Adolescence<\/em> and Money Heist<\/em>. This year has seen the launch of expensive period drama The Leopard<\/em>, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa\u2019s novel, next up to entice viewers is The Monster of Florence<\/em>, 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n