We were lucky to catch up with Edoardo Novello recently and have shared our conversation below.

Edoardo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

It all started about nine years ago when I was close to graduating from high school in Italy. Once I reached the end of my program, I suddenly found myself in the dilemma of which major to pursue in college. At the time, I was very interested in chemistry, but I always felt that films had taken so much of my life that there needed to be a way to adapt this passion to my future career. Reading “Screenplay” by Syd Field after my chemistry study hours changed the game. The possibility of learning about the structure of famous scripts and the development process of productions intrigued me and made me reconsider my career choices. That was when I understood that my path wasn’t that of a chemist with a passion for films, but that of a producer with a passion for chemistry. I would even say the path of somebody who craves to produce films more than anything else. After committing myself to learning as much as possible about film history and art, I decided that I had to move to America and dream bigger to become a producer who could really change the industry. The rest is history.

Edoardo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Certainly! Here’s the revised text with cleared formatting:

I would describe myself as an ambitious person who is strongly determined to make my dream career come true. I remember that when growing up, not many individuals believed in me, nor did many think that a boy from Venice with no connections in the industry could aim to work successfully in another country. Now it’s different. For almost three years, I have been working actively as a producer, providing consultations and overseeing the production of several documentaries, advertisements, and feature films. This growth was not only the product of years of studying the film industry and the international market but also my constant desire to improve and polish my producing skills. Staying focused, multitasking while working on several projects simultaneously, and being available anytime (day and night) to resolve production needs were crucial elements for my career development.

Alongside these, I had to work hard to learn more about finances, tax incentives and union contributions, and the many laws that regulate the producing world. The skills I acquired helped me tremendously since the early months after my arrival on the continent when I oversaw the production of “The Things I Can’t Say.” This was the first film I made in the States and one of the very first to get festival recognition, screening at the Chicago Art House Film Festival and winning the Outstanding Arthouse Film prize. This first award pushed me forward through the obstacles I faced and made me realize that my desire to become a successful producer was closer than I had thought.

Another essential step in my career was the opportunity to produce back-to-back feature films last fall. One is called “The American Terrorist,” and the other “Trenchez 2.” Both projects are now milestones in my life and have given me the tools and confidence to take on bigger productions. “The American Terrorist” is a historical film set in 2002 in a society that had just experienced the tragedy of 9/11. “Trenchez 2” is the sequel to a successful thriller set in a poor neighborhood where the protagonist must find their way out using violence and alternative ways to survive. These projects openly explore the dimensions of grief and trauma, trying to exorcise the demons in the protagonists’ souls and transmit a new optimistic message to the audience. I have since understood that these are the types of projects I want to focus on—ones that are not afraid to treat daily emotional themes and connect them with much bigger reflections about life.

While exploring the possibilities given by these types of films, I have also tried to develop more stories about human resilience and social injustices. The Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) Institute gave me an opportunity to do so. SIP is the institution that mostly changed my way of seeing commercials, allowing me to produce advertisements for the WISH Charter Schools of Los Angeles, which pair regular students with students with special needs in the same classrooms. My profession can ultimately find a way to help others and impact society by taking on projects with real human meaning.

Currently, I am producing a documentary about the Indian-American Sikh community and working on several shows ready for streaming platforms that revolve around family dramas and romantic stories. The work for these streaming platforms was an additional push for my career, allowing me to produce shows that now have millions of views and have gained notoriety among their audiences. At the end of this year, I will produce two new high-budget feature films, both aimed at analyzing human relationships and social prejudices.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the best thing that can happen to any creative is to make a work that will make people reconsider their lives or at least provide a new way to filter their societies. I remember an old writer saying that the best award they ever received was a reader who openly told them that reading a book reminded them of their youth. This is what I would like to do too: produce films that will make somebody rethink their life within two hours at the theater.

Producing “Encounters” was a unique experience that helped me explore these notions in a similar way. This documentary is about minor psychiatric patients in an Italian private hospital and was my first introductory experience with the documentarian world. Talking to these minor patients about their lives and hopes for the future was beautiful and provided me with that level of truthfulness and deep human connection that I was seeking to capture in my films. My work on this production went on for several days and resulted in my gaining a scholarship at the world’s oldest university, the University of Bologna. This also gave me a clearer idea of what I want to develop.

In just a few words, my final aim as a producer is not only to restructure the independent film market with more introspective and heartfelt stories, but also to show the complexity of the human soul in front of the camera, in all its beauty.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Among all of the theorists that I studied and the filmmakers that I have read about, the works of Terrence Malick and Federico Fellini are the ones that most changed my perspective on films. Malick wants to make films larger than life itself, products that try to encompass all human existence by talking about a single family or individual characters. I am talking about films such as “The Tree of Life” or “The Thin Red Line.” On the other hand, Fellini is much more grounded and portrays characters in an open fight against the society they are in. His subjects are people who try to navigate life without having a proper direction or resolution but nonetheless want to shake the worlds they inhabit and fulfill their subconscious need for a better life.

In this sense, I believe that the projects I have made are also part of the same category of films, as they all address daily life events while also providing new meaning to the narrated episodes. It’s the concept of films as microcosms of life—a project made with a more extensive scope, one that wants to create real characters and authentic stories to resonate with modern audiences. I hope that others can learn this way of seeing the film industry too, bringing it back to that “dream factory” it once was.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/edoardo.novello/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/edoardonovello/
• Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/edoardonovello

Image Credits

(friends took the pictures). “Still 3” was taken by Victor Curtis.