Black Immigrant Daily News

November 23, 2022 – Entertainment industry mogul and multinational business entrepreneur Andrea Iervolino has been tasked with evaluating entertainment investment opportunities in the in the West Indies, with a focus on enriching Antigua and Barbuda with opportunities involving film and TV productions, strategic partnerships, and cooperations bridging the countries with Europe and North America where Iervolino runs several successful businesses.

In this undertaking, Iervolino will work closely with Dario Item, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the Kingdom of Spain, the Principality of Monaco, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the UNWTO.

Said Iervolino, “Its an honor to be tasked with building valuable, long-lasting culture and business bridges between the West Indies, Europe and North America.

I see tremendous opportunity and envision entertainment and tech industries being key drivers in cross-border collaborations that can galvanize and provide mutual returns very quickly.

The West Indies, and in particular Antigua and Barbuda, have long been overlooked despite being well positioned for growth.

We will bring opportunities swiftly and the global markets will take notice.”

Dario Item commented, “Nobody is better equipped than Andrea to open the doors of Antigua and Barbuda to North American and European businesses in these key growth sectors.

Running successful companies throughout Europe and North America and recognized as a pioneering business leader, Andrea’s approach to fostering new relationships and building foundations is remarkable.

This is precisely what we need and why Andrea is the ideal man for this job.”

Iervolino founded and runs the publicly held studio Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment (“ILBE”) (Euronext Growth Milan – IE and Euronext Growth Paris – ALIE);

publicly traded Tatatu S.p.A. the first social media and entertainment app to reward users for the value they help generate by spending time on the platform (Euronext Growth Paris ticker code: ALTTU) which has a $6 billion valuation;

and the cutting edge SPACE 11 – a company specifically dedicated to servicing film and TV projects in outer space.

Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment S.p.A. (ILBE) is a global production company active in the production of film and television content as well as animated web series.

The Company also operates through the subsidiaries Arte Video, and Red Carpet, IES Serbia, Wepost (formerly Iexchange) and the associated company WTI.

ILBE was listed on Euronext Growth Milan in August 2019, and from January 2022 also on Euronext Growth Paris. In 2020 ILBE recorded revenues of € 121 million, EBIT of € 23 million and a net result of € 19 million.

ILBE is currently working on the highly anticipated movie “Ferrari” written, directed and produced by four-time Oscar® nominee Michael Mann and starring Academy Award® nominee Adam Driver, Academy Award® winner Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey and Jack O’Connell.

The company most recently closed a U.S. theatrical distribution deal with Samuel Goldwyn Films for its star-studded female powered “Tell it Like a Woman” featuring an esteemed group of female filmmakers and actors that includes Taraji P. Henson, Jennifer Hudson, Pauletta Washington ,Cara Delevingne, Catherine Hardwicke, Margherita Buy, Marcia Gay Harden, Eva Longoria, Leonor Varela, Jacqueline Fernandez, Anne Watanabe and Mipo O. ILBE made this film in collaboration with Chiara Tilesi’s non-profit We Do it Together.

On the family entertainment front, the global success of their animated family/adventure film and series “Arctic Dogs” and “Puffins,” has led to three new spinoff series produced by ILBE.

The innovative short series are designed specifically to meet the needs of new generations increasingly accustomed to the very short duration of clips due to the exponential growth of new video reel formats of social networks such as Tik Tok and Instagram.

The series, which will be available from the end of the second quarter of 2023, will contain 60 second episodes and will feature likeable characters from the spin-off series of the animated film “Arctic Dogs” and “Puffins” series.

Iervolino founded social media platform TaTaTu in 2020 with the aim of becoming one of the world’s must-use social media and entertainment platform.

The Company’s vision is that sharing value among the various players that are active in the social media environment, namely (i) the platform, (ii) the content producers and (iii) the viewers, constitutes a new and fair approach to business, which the Company expects will be recognized and appreciated by users.

Such an innovative approach is the cornerstone of the Company’s vision of a “sharing economy”.

TaTaTu’s direct listing took place in October 2022 through the admission to trading of 814,265,232 shares.

The reference share price was €2.00, equals to the subscription price of a private placement conducted prior to the listing.

Thus, the market capitalization of the Company was approximately €1.6bn on the day of the listing.

 

About Andrea Iervolino

Andrea Iervolino is an award-winning movie producer and businessman whose passion for cinema led him to producing films starting at the age of 15. Since then, the now 35 year old Iervolino, has produced and distributed over 75 films, making him one of the most active and accomplished film executives in the world and alongside his business partner Lady Monika Bacardi, Iervolino has co-founded several entertainment ventures.

Iervolino is currently one of the youngest and most highly regarded Italian entrepreneurs in the world of filmmaking.

At the 71st Venice Film Festival, alongside Al Pacino and Barry Levinson, Iervolino was recognized with the Best Producer Award.

In 2016, at the Capri Hollywood Film Festival, he was named Filmmaker of the Year for his work on James Franco’s ‘In Dubious Battle’.

Later in 2016, and again in 2018, he was awarded Best Producer and Businessman at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF).

On June 18th, 2018, Iervolino was awarded Knighthood of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana) by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the Italian Consulate of Canada for his outstanding achievement in the fields of business and media culture.

Through ILBE, Iervolino produced the feature adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s prize-winning novel Waiting for the Barbarians, directed by Ciro Guerra, and starring Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance, multiple Academy Award® nominee Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson; Marcus Stokes’ State of Consciousness, starring Emile Hirsch: Eddie & Sunny with Gabriel Luna;

The Poison Rose starring John Travolta and Morgan Freeman; Dakota with Abbie Cornish, Lola Sultan, Patrick Muldoon and William Baldwin; Muti with Morgan Freeman, Cole Hauser, Peter Stormare, Vernon Davis and Giuseppe Zeno; Tell it Like a Woman with Jennifer Hudson, Cara Delevingne, Eva Longoria, Margherita Buy, Jacqueline Fernandez and Marcia Gay Harden.

He’s executive producer, through ILBE, of two movies: Lamborghini based on the life of Ferruccio Lamborghini, directed by Bobbie Moresco and with Frank Grillo, Gabriel Byrne and Mira Sorvino, and Minamata by Andrew Levitas, with Johnny Depp.

Among the films produced by Iervolino are the comedy “Safe Spaces” starring Justin Long, Fran Drescher and Richard Schiff; and the 3D, CGI animated family film “Arctic Dogs” starring Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, James Franco and Anjelica Huston;

the father/son stock car racing film “Trading Paint,” starring Two-time Oscar® nominee John Travolta, Shania Twain, Toby Sebastian and Michael Madsen; the romantic drama “Here and Now” starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Renée Zellweger, Common and Simon Baker; the revenge thriller “Bent” from Academy Award® winner Bobby Moresco, starring Karl Urban, Sofia Vergara and Andy Garcia;

the heist movie “Finding Steve McQueen,” starring Travis Fimmel, Rachael Taylor, William Fichtner and Forest Whitaker, directed by Mark Steven Johnson;

the Andrea Bocelli biopic “The Music of Silence”, directed by Oscar® nominated Michael Radford and starring Antonio Banderas, Toby Sebastian and Jordi Molla;

the psychological thriller “Black Butterfly” starring Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Rhys Meyers; the faith based children’s film “Beyond the Sun,” featuring His Holiness Pope Francis.

Iervolino also creates high-quality short animated series for streaming platforms. He produced two spin off from the movie “Arctic Dogs: Arctic Friends” and “Puffins,” with cast voice by Johnny Depp. He launched an animation studios, Iervolino Studios, in Serbia last year.

Andrea Iervolino Accolades:

● ICFF 2022 President of Jury

●TAORMINA EXCELLENCE AWARD Best Producer for “Tell it Like a Woman” film project

● KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF MERIT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC From the President of the Italian   Republic Sergio Mattarella

● 2 HONORARY DEGREES Vasili Goldis University Mexico City University

● LAZIALE DELL’ANNO AWARD – ONTARIO 2017 From the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

● MAGNA GRAECIA FILM FESTIVAL 2017 Producer of the year

● CAPRI HOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL 2016 Best Filmmaker for In Dubious Battle

● MIMMO ROTELLA AWARD 2016 AMBI Group as Best Film Production

● IC-SAVING AWARD 2016 Andrea Iervolino as Best Producer and Businessman

● ACTION ACADEMY AWARD 2016 Andrea Iervolino as Best Producer and Businessman

● VARIETY’s 2015 Dealmaker Andrea Iervolino being named one of Variety’s 2015 Dealmakers

● ICFF Awards 2015 Andrea Iervolino is the new Ambassadaor of Italian Cinema in the world (a TIFF event)

● MADE IN ITALY AWARDS 2015 Best Italian businessman

● VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2015: MIMMO ROTELLA AWARD (a Biennale event) Andrea Iervolino as Best Producer. 71^ Annual Venice Film Festival:

● POMPEI CINEMA FESTIVAL 2014 Andrea Iervolino as Best Producer

● ICFF Award 2013: Best Film Production Company

● ICFF Award 2014: Best Film Production Company

● Ichia Global Fest Award 2014: Best Film Production Company

● Capri Hollywood Award 2014: Best Film Production Company

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Today (November 23), the Ministry of Investment, Innovation and Social Development confirmed that its business asset preservation grant program, given to tourism related businesses and administered via the Cayman Islands Centre for Business Development (CICBD), has concluded.

A successful innovative pilot program in September and October 2021 allocated through the CICBD provided vital support for Caymanian-owned businesses involved in watersports and land tour operations. Supplementary funding was approved subsequently by Parliament in March 2022, and continued to be administered by the CICBD until its conclusion.

Initially, in the pilot programme, these grants were targeted specifically towards asset preservation for businesses involved in watersports and land tour operations. Similar support was provided for the benefit of other qualifying tourism related businesses including transportation and restaurants- all of whom were anticipating more sustainable levels of tourism following the re-opening of the borders in 2022. Over 400 businesses received this support, with approximately $7.5 million in funding distributed.

Commenting on the success of the program, the Hon. Minister Andr? Ebanks said,

At the conclusion of the Ministry’s asset preservation grant program, the Ministry is humbled that this innovative type of funding assistance provided a critical lifeline above and beyond the equally important stipend paid to tourism workers to replace personal income. With these grants, Caymanian businesses were able to pay to maintain or repair equipment, or make insurance or loan payments, since these and other costs continued to accrue regardless of the border closure. Nearly $7.5 million given in grants contributed to the survival of over 400 recipient businesses until the revitalisation of the tourism industry was underway.

Ms. Tamara Ebanks, Acting MIISD Chief Officer, praised the administration of the program by the CICBD, stating:

“Since the very beginning of the global pandemic, the Centre has played a key role in the Government’s response to alleviating the economic consequences of a prolonged absence of tourism. I commend the Centre for administering the business asset grant program for nearly eighteen months, with excellent public service, accuracy and efficiency.” She added, “It truly is fitting that the Centre was honoured for its efforts at the Deputy Governor’s Team Awards event earlier this year.”

Ms. Althea West-Myers, Director of the CICBD, noted that the Centre has resumed its important and primary mandate, to build capacity in micro and small businesses in the Cayman Islands and to advocate on their behalf. Ms. West-Myers said:

The Centre has turned its attention to providing other forms of business development support that are equally important to business viability. These include an array of workshops, training opportunities, business coaching, conducting business assessments and facilitating networking events. All of these are offered at no cost to participants,” said West-Myers. “We encourage all local businesses, entrepreneurs, potential mentors and investors to engage with us as we continue to build and enhance the environment for local businesses to thrive.

(source: Ministry of Investment, Innovation and Social Development)

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Police beat workers protesting over a pay dispute at the biggest factory for Apple’s iPhone, whose new model is delayed by controls imposed as China tries to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Foxconn, the biggest contract assembler of smartphones and other electronics, is struggling to fill orders for the iPhone 14 after thousands of employees walked away from the factory in the central city of Zhengzhou last month following complaints about unsafe working conditions.

China’s status as an export powerhouse is based on factories such as Foxconn’s that assemble the world’s consumer electronics, toys and other goods.

The ruling Communist Party is trying to contain the latest wave of outbreaks without shutting down factories and the rest of its economy as it did in early 2020. Its tactics include “closed-loop management,” under which workers live in their factories with no outside contact.

Foxconn offered higher pay to attract more workers to the Zhengzhou factory to assemble the iPhone 14, which sells starting at $799 in the United States.

On Tuesday, a protest erupted after employees who had travelled long distances to take jobs at the factory complained that the company changed the terms of their pay, according to an employee, Li Sanshan.

Li said he quit a catering job when he saw an advertisement promising 25,000 yuan ($3,500) for two months of work. That would be a significant hike over the average pay for this type of work in the area.

After employees arrived, the company said they had to work two additional months at lower pay to receive the 25,000 yuan, according to Li.

“Foxconn released very tempting recruiting offers, and workers from all parts of the country came, only to find they were being made fools of,” he said.

Videos online showed thousands of people in masks facing rows of police in white protective suits with plastic riot shields. Police kicked and hit a protester with clubs after he grabbed a metal pole that had been used to strike him. People who shot the footage said it was filmed at the site.

The protests in Zhengzhou come as the ruling Communist Party faces rising frustration about restrictions in areas across China that have closed shops and offices and confined millions of people to their homes.

That has boiled over into protests in some cities. Videos on social media show residents tearing down barricades set up to enforce neighbourhood closures.

The ruling party promised this month to try to reduce disruptions by shortening quarantines and making other changes. But the party is sticking to a “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every case while other governments relax controls and try to live with the virus.

The protest in Zhengzhou lasted through Wednesday morning as thousands of workers gathered outside dormitories and confronted factory security workers, according to Li.

Apple Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company earlier warned iPhone 14 deliveries would be delayed after access to an industrial zone around the Zhengzhou factory, which Foxconn says employs 200,000 people, was suspended following outbreaks.

Other videos showed protesters spraying fire extinguishers toward police.

A man who identified himself as the Communist Party secretary in charge of community services was shown in a video posted on the Sina Weibo social media platform urging protesters to withdraw. He assured them their demands would be met.

Foxconn, whose headquarters are in New Taipei City, Taiwan, said that its contractual obligation about payments “has always been fulfilled.”

The company denied what it said were comments online that employees with the virus lived in dormitories at the Zhengzhou factory. It said facilities were disinfected and passed government checks before employees moved in.

“Regarding any violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” a company statement said.

Protests have flared as the number and severity of outbreaks has risen across China, prompting authorities in areas including Beijing, the capital, to close neighbourhoods and impose other restrictions that residents say go beyond what the national government allows.

More than 253,000 cases have been found in the past three weeks and the daily average is increasing, the government reported Tuesday. This week, authorities reported China’s first COVID-19 deaths in six months.

On Wednesday, the government reported 28,883 cases found over the past 24 hours, including 26,242 with no symptoms. Henan province and Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, reported 851.

The government will enforce its anti-COVID policy while “resolutely overcoming the mindset of paralysis and laxity,” said a spokesman for the National Health Commission, Mi Feng.

The city government of Guangzhou, the site of the biggest outbreaks, announced that it opened 19 temporary hospitals with a total of almost 70,000 beds for coronavirus patients. The city announced plans last week to build hospital and quarantine facilities for 250,000 people.

Also Wednesday, Beijing opened a hospital in an exhibition centre and suspended access to Beijing International Studies University after a virus case was found there. The capital earlier closed shopping malls and office buildings and suspended access to some apartment compounds.

___

By JOE McDONALD and ZEN SOO

AP news assistant Caroline Chen contributed.

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