Medusa Film S.p.A. is an Italian film production and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

company owned by

Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A. is an Italian mass media and television production and distribution company that is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE – MediaForEurope (the original ...

. It is one of the top film producers and distributors in the country.

History

Medusa Distribuzione S.p.A. was founded by Felice Colaiacono and Franco Poccioni in 1964. Initially only focused on distribution, thanks to executive producer , in the 1970s the company began collaborating with other production companies, including Devon Film and

Luciano Martino Luciano Martino (22 December 1933 – 14 August 2013) was an Italian film producer, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, the brother of the director and screenwriter Sergio Martino, he was active in the cinema industry since the ...

's , and co-produced successful genre films and comedies. In 1983, Poccioni became the sole administrator of the company. In July 1986, , a subsidiary of

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., also known as Fininvest, is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is com ...

, acquired a 49% ownership interest in Medusa. Two years later, in 1988, Reteitalia took full ownership of the company, however, the following year, Medusa was subsequently absorbed into . In 1995, Penta Film was dissolved and Medusa Film was restored. was appointed president, and the company resumed operations in 1996. In 1999, Medusa announced that it would begin producing its own films. That year, signed a five-year contract to produce films for the company. Following the death of Bernasconi in 2001, Marina Berlusconi was appointed president of Medusa. In 2002, '' Variety'' reported that Medusa Film was the second leading film distributor in Italy, holding 14% of the country's total market share. In 2005, the

European Audiovisual Observatory The European Audiovisual Observatory (, ) is a public service organisation, part of the Council of Europe set up in 1992 as a partial agreement. The observatory collects and analyses data about the audiovisual industry in Europe, such as cinem ...

reported that Medusa was the fourth leading film distributor in Italy, holding 10.3% of the country's total market share. In July 2007, Medusa Film was sold to

, and

Pier Silvio Berlusconi Pier Silvio Berlusconi (born 28 April 1969) is an Italian media businessman. He is the son of the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his first wife Carla Lucia Elvira Dall'Oglio. As a shareholder of Fininvest, the Berlusconi fa ...

was appointed to its board of directors. In November 2012, Medusa sold its home video division to Warner Bros. Italia.

Production credits

2000s

2010s

2020s

References

External links

* {{Authority control Mediaset 1964 establishments in Italy 1988 mergers and acquisitions 2007 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Rome Entertainment companies established in 1964 Film distributors of Italy Film production companies of Italy International sales agents Italian film studios Major film studios Mass media companies established in 1964 Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA