Tarak Ben Ammar, the president of Eagle Pictures, strolls into The Hollywood Reporter Roma studio at the Venice Film Festival in casual dress, polo shirt and pants, all in the same matching grey, except for pitch-black loafers.
“I love to walk,” he says, tutting about the state of disrepair of Lido landmark The Excelsior, which he just passed by and which is in dire need of renovation. “The Excelsior can no longer be called a luxury hotel,” he argues, before taking a seat to talk about his storied life in the movie business.
The Tunisian-French media mogul knows a few things about rebuilding. Ben Ammar acquired Eagle Pictures in 2007 and has turned the Milan-based production and distribution group into a European powerhouse. Exclusive distribution deals with Paramount and Sony Pictures have made Eagle Italy’s largest independent distributor, and Ben Ammar has leveraged his Sony deal to co-produce with the studio, teaming up on projects including Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3, the latest in the hit action franchise starring Denzel Washington, which was shot entirely in Italy.
Alongside new acquisitions — of local production house 302 Original Content and unscripted TV company Blu Yazmine — Ben Ammar has also announced plans to build a $50 million-plus studio complex in Rome. And, he tells THR Roma, he wants to shake up Italy’s staid cinema education system with the launch of a new public film school in the Lazio region.
Ben Ammar is a unique figure on the European film scene. Born in Tunisia in 1949, he first made his name in the industry as a local service provider, his Carthago Films working on the Tunisian location shoots for Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. He soon moved into production himself, with such features as Franco Zeffirelli’s La Traviata (1982) and Roman Polanski’s Pirates (1986). In 1990, he set up the production group Quinta Communications with old friend — and future…
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