AMBI Pictures Expands Into Animation with New Animated Feature 'East End'

AMBI Pictures, the movie development, finance and production company owned and run by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi, has entered the world of animation, announcing today that it will produce a new animated feature film titled EAST END.

The Family friendly animated feature will be directed by Federico Moccia, Giuseppe Squillaci and Luca Scanferla, who also teamed together to write the script.

Producers are AMBI Pictures principals Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi.

EAST END follows eight-year-old best friends Leo and Lex. Leo is a thoughtful and all-around good natured kid while Lex, on the other hand, is an impulsive, restless, little punk. Despite their differences, the two boys are very close and spend all their free time getting tangled in the most ridiculous situations.

They have a gang of friends from elementary school that take part in all their adventures. Ugo is an introverted, sensitive boy, who is always depressed and has all kinds of morbid fascinations. Vittorio is an arrogant, selfish little brat and is the "looker" of the group. Gabriele and Michelle are two brilliant and eccentric twins, passionate about science and technology. And last, but not least, is the bossy and fierce Camilla.

The gang live in the brand new, but already run down EAST END neighbourhood of Rome, which is the backdrop to an outrageous string of events that leads to some unfathomably wild adventures.

Said Iervolino, "With the worldwide appetite for animated family entertainment continuing to grow, we feel it's important for AMBI Pictures to establish a footprint in this market category and deliver the most intelligent, cutting-edge and commercially viable animated family films in the marketplace. Working with Federico, Giuseppe and Luca puts us right on that path."

About the Directors and Writers

Federico Moccia is an established writer of both novels and screenplays, a film and television director and also the Mayor of Rosello, Italy since 2012. He wrote his highly successful first novel TRE METRI SOPRA IL CIELO (Three Meters Above the Sky), which was made into a successful film in 2004. His books have won awards: "Torre di Castruccio," in the narrative section, and "Insula Romana" in the young adult section. His works have been translated and sold throughout Europe, Japan and Latin America with great success. His creative vision as a writer and a director have been applauded and appreciated by many generations.

Giuseppe Squillaci is a renowned visual effects supervisor and founder of CANECANE, a visual effects studio based in Italy. Launched in 2008, CANECANE has established itself as one of the strongest visual effects companies in Europe and garnered much attention internationally.

CANECANE has worked on more than 35 films and has earned two nominations for the David di Donatello award, with "Italians" by Giovanni Veronesi in 2009 and "AMICI MIEI...COME TUTTO EBBE INIZIO" by Neri Parenti in 2011. Giuseppe graduated with a Computer Science of Humanities degree from the University of Rome La Sapienza (where he also taught). He artistic training comes from the International School of Comics and the European Academy for Special Effects by Carlo Rambaldi. Passionate about theater and performing arts, he directed several plays between 1998 and 2005.

Luca Scanferla is a writer and independent filmmaker who has made several short films. Some of his shorts have screened at film festivals including Rome's Fantafestival. He studied literature at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and wrote a thesis on the history of criticism in film. He also graduated from the European Academy of Special Effects where he studied under Carlo Rambald

About AMBI

Prolific Italian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lady of Bayfield Hall, better known as "Monika Bacardi" teamed to launch AMBI Pictures in late 2013 and have rapidly put together a robust slate of films they are financing and producing for the worldwide marketplace.

Headquartered in Europe, with a new international sales office in Beverly Hills, Iervolino and Lady Bacardi's AMBI Pictures is dedicated to making commercial films for a worldwide audience. With a mandate to serve as a top-tier supplier of mainstream projects for both the studios and major independent distributors worldwide, AMBI pursues top Hollywood talent and international stars and produce/finance six to eight films a year at varying budget levels, depending on the project.

AMBI's burgeoning production arm is already on pace to produce eight feature films in 2014 including the action-thriller "Sights of Death" starringDanny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen, as well as the Barry Levinson directed drama "The Humbling," starring Al Pacino, Mandy Patinkin, Kyra Sedgwick, Charles Grodin and Dianne Wiest, and the crime-thriller "Hope Lost," starring Danny Trejo, Mischa Barton and Michael Madsen.

Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 40 feature films including "The Merchant of Venice," "Gorbaciof," "Napoletans," and "The Anatomist," top name a few. At just 25 years old, he is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the Italian film industry.

Monika Bacardi is the widow of Luis Adalberto Facundo Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lord of Bayfield Hall, known as Lord Luis Bacardi (descendent of the Bacardi founder, still a family-run company). Renowned for her Passion of modern art and love of photography and movies, Monika Bacardi is a highly successful businesswoman who is now committed to producing films, through AMBI, on top of her numerous philanthropic activities

AMBI Pictures is active in the distribution of various movie projects in Italy and throughout the world through its satellite company AI Entertainment, a company Iervolino founded in 2011. Iervolino still runs this operation as well as several production and distribution companies in Italy, Spain and Canada.

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