Italian Youtubers are not satisfied with being web stars. Frank Matano, just to name one, is on the set of Attenti al gorilla, but he’s not the only one who want to jump from little to Big screen.
A pioneer was certainly him, Frank Matano. Many people remember his past as Iena – one of the protagonits of a famous Italian show -, but not everyone remembers the origins of the television and film phenomenon. Born to an American mother, Matano was already successful on the web at the age of 18 thanks to his YouTube channel where he loaded videos of telephone jokes and social experiments. Then came the first television appearances (Le Iene) to move in 2013 to his film debut, entering the cast of the film Fuga di cervelli, directed by Paolo Ruffini. He then starred in Sono tornato, Tutto molto bello and Ma che bella sorpresa. He is currently in the cast of Luca Miniero’s new film, Attenti al gorilla.
Another example of successful YouTuber attracted later by cinema are The Jackal. Addio fottuti musi verdi is their first feature film, co-produced by the same protagonists, along with Cattleya and Rai Cinema. The Jackal itself had already expressed a particular interest in cinema and television, after all how can we forget Gli effetti di Gomorra sulla gente? Surely, one of their most viral series on the web, inspired by the famous film and TV series Gomorrah.
Another example is The Pills, which has become a phenomenon thanks to the web-series where the protagonists deal ironically with themes common to young people in the Roman suburbs. The collective then began its television experience on DeeJay Television leading the show Late night with The Pills. In January 2016, the theatrical release of their first film: The Pills – Sempre meglio che lavorare, produced by Taodue Film with Eat movie and Greenland.
Fabio Rovazzi becomes famous on the Internet through his Facebook, Instagram and YouTube profiles, where he publishes his first comic videos, before arriving at the second evening on Rai 2 with Sorci verdi by J-Ax. The first film, Il vegetale, of which he is the main character, was released in 2018 and was directed by Gennaro Nunziante and produced by 3ZERO2 and Walt Disney Company Italia.
The Sicilian duo I soldi spicci becomes viral facing the problems of the couple with irony. They took part in Colorado Café in 2014 and then embarked on a comic tour of Italian theatres. In 2018 they made their film debut with La fuitina sbagliata, a film they wrote together with Marco Alessi and Salvo Rinaudo, produced by Cattleya and Alessandro Siani with the distribution of 01 Distribution.
Other successful YouTubers are Le Coliche who dedicate their videos to Roman problems and peculiarities. The success of the videos guarantee them the participation in the next edition of Pechino Express and in the new comedy series by Fox Romolo + Giuly. La Guerra Mondiale italiana, on air from September 17, 2018 in the first TV on Fox.
