Italy’s Nexo Launches Nexo Plus SVOD Platform With International Ambitions (EXCLUSIVE)
Italy’s Nexo Digital, the company known internationally for co-producing and distributing theatrical event content for the global market, is launching an innovative subscription streaming platform in Italy dedicated to a mix of content comprising movies, opera, ballet and theater with long-term ambitions to expand the service beyond national confines.
“We have acquired more than 1,500 hours of content to create nine worlds,” Nexo CEO Franco di Sarro told Variety. These areas include art, cinema, classical music, dance, pop music, biography, history, current affairs and live performance.
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Heading the highly curated Nexo Plus SVOD service, which is launching today in Italy, is former Sky Arts Italy programming manager and commissioning editor Giudo Casali. The cost will be €9.99 ($11.88) per month. Some content will also be sold on a TVOD basis.
Nexo, which is known globally for producing and distributing high-end art docs including “Klimt and Schiele: Eros and Psyche, 1918-2018” and “Monet — Water Lilies: Magic Spell of Water and Light,” as well as sports-themed product such as “Pele – The Last Show,” will be commissioning original content for the service.
In Italy, Nexo Plus has forged partnerships with publishing executive and filmmaker Elisabetta Sgarbi, founder of prominent Italian publisher La Nave di Teseo; the Far East Film Festival, which is among the world’s top Asian cinema events and also operates a film distribution arm; Feltrinelli Real Cinema, the documentary production unit of prominent Italian publisher Feltrinelli; and Turin’s Scuola Holden film school, founded by best-selling author and media personality Alessandro Baricco. Nexo Plus also have a partnership with Germany’s Unitel GmbH, which produces and distributes filmed classical music performances.
Exclusive titles that Nexo Plus is listing at launch include Oscar-nominated doc “Honeyland”; ARTE-produced doc “The Goering Catalogue,” about art looted during World War II by the second most powerful Nazi after the Fuhrer; the 2020 Salzburg opera, music and drama festival; and a doc titled “Vaccines: Nine Lessons in Science,” directed by Elisabetta Sgarbi which recently screened at the Turin Film Festival.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve worked on bringing niche content to bigger audiences in the theatrical arena,” said Di Sarro, pointing to Nexo Digital’s savvy in event theatrical releases in Italy and abroad. “This has allowed us to imagine a new concept streaming platform,” he added. Di Sarro said he is eyeing expanding Nexo Plus beyond Italy if, as he firmly believes, the Italian service gets traction.
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