Show Is Based On The First Book Of Elena Ferrante’s Bestselling Quadrilogy
An HBO-RAI FICTION And TIMVISION Production;
Produced By Lorenzo Mieli And Mario Gianani For Wildside And
By Domenico Procacci For Fandango
In Co-Production With Umedia Production
With production underway in Caserta, Italy, the first official images from the HBO, RAI FICTION and TIMVISION series MY BRILLIANT FRIEND have been released. Based on Elena Ferrante’s bestselling book of the same name, which is the first of her four-part series published in the U.S. by Europa Editions, the eight-episode series is being directed by Saverio Costanzo (“Private,” “The Solitude of Prime Numbers,” “Hungry Hearts”).
Casting for the show took place over a period of eight months, with almost 9,000 children and 500 adults from all over Campania auditioning. The casting process included professional and non-professional actors, as well as students recruited from local schools. Newcomers Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti were chosen to portray the two lead roles of Elena and Lila as young children.
As production on the series progresses, these young actresses have given way to teenage actresses Margherita Mazzucco as Elena and Gaia Girace as Lila. In total, MY BRILLIANT FRIEND is expected to include a cast of more than 150 actors and 5,000 extras.
The production’s construction team of 150 crew members has created 215,000 square feet of sets, which were built over 100 days. To recreate the neighborhood, the symbolic location of the story, they built 14 exterior apartment buildings, five interior sets of apartments, a church and a tunnel. The costume department is gathering 1,500 costumes, many of which are original creations.
MY BRILLIANT FRIEND is an HBO, RAI FICTION and TIMVISION series, produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani for Wildside and by Domenico Procacci for Fandango in co-production with Umedia Production. All episodes will be directed by Saverio Costanzo. Story and screenplays by Elena Ferrante, Francesco Piccolo, Laura Paolucci and Saverio Costanzo. Jennifer Schuur is the executive producer. FremantleMedia International will act as the international distributor.