Creativity in Power: From Hollywood to Pixar Passing Through Italy

I don’t know if anyone is already thinking of translating Armando Fumagalli’s latest book into other languages, but it would certainly be worth it. Creatività al potere: da Hollywood alla Pixar passare per l’Italia, Lindau editions 2013, offers us an exciting and very useful read for those who want to orient themselves in the jungle of the contemporary audiovisual industry.

The author analyzes the American case and compares it with the European one, particularly with Italy, to exalt an unprecedented model of creativity management such as Pixar, the most successful company in the history of cinema, the only one capable of launching thirteen productions on the market without any failure; an atypical company not only for its numbers but also for its style and corporate philosophy.

If we take a more detailed look at the index, we see that it starts with the screenplay, with Storytelling (cinema, television, literature) to subsequently analyze what Hollywood is and how it works: the majors, the agents, etc., but also the “soul” behind it: ethnic groups, cultures, ideologies… The positive aspects are emphasized, but at the same time the negative ones are highlighted, as in the paragraph entitled Why Hollywood wins and why it could lose. From here we move on to the connection between cinema and television, in the United States and in Italy. The last chapter is dedicated to Pixar as an alternative model.

An extensive bibliography completes the book. Fumagalli knows the topics he addresses well. His conscientious documentation work is the result of his great experience in the audiovisual field, as a consultant for many years of Lux Vide, but also for his numerous interviews with professionals in the sector and for his trips to some of the most important centers of film production worldwide, such as Shanghai, Hollywood or San Francisco, where Pixar is based, in the small town of Emeryville.

Ultimately, a reading that does not disappoint and that never loses sight of the double dimension of cinema, understood as art and industry.