Shoot in The Alps is a film and photo facilitating company operating in the European Alps; France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia as a single geographic entity. The company handles everything from location scouting, specialised crews, stunt people, mountain safety experts and helicopters to warm cups of espresso at the top of a glacier!

Shoot in the Alps' strength lies in detailed knowledge of the alpine territory provided by a network of professionals who live and work in the region throughout the year. Its database includes everything a client's imagination will ask, and more.

"A glacier in Switzerland might not be as accessible as one in Austria, and the snow in Italy might be softer than in France... or everything could be just the opposite. We will take you to where your production needs to be."

Chamonix is closer to Milan than Paris; Lake Como is one hour away from Saint Moritz; Kranjska Gora is one hour and half from sandy beaches; and six months a year, clients can shoot their models skiing on day one, and swimming in the sea on day two. Shoot in The Alps has access to snow 365 days a year.

The team works with crews and suppliers from Milan, Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Innsbruck and Ljubljana, offering the best equipment and the highest level of professionalism.

Born in Milan, Dario Piana graduated from the famous Brera Art Academy. He drew comic books and storyboards until 1984, and has since gone on to shoot more than 650 commercials. He works all over the world with international talents such as Milena Canonero (three-times Oscar winning costume designer), Kim Basinger, Eliott Gould, Eddie Irvine, Michael Schumacher, Ziyi Zhang, Valentino Rossi, Ronaldo, George Clooney, and many others.

He has won many Italian and international advertising awards including two Gold, three Silver and four Bronze Lions at the International Advertising Film Festival Cannes.

He has done two movies: 'The Deaths of Ian Stone' (Lionsgate) and 'The Lost Boys 3' (Warner Bros.) as well as three short films. Dario also wrote and directed a nine-minute interactive 3D show with animated characters
for one of the biggest amusement parks in Europe.

One of Dario's commercials is exposed in the advertising section of the Louvre Museum, Paris.

"The secret of a good job is to avoid doing things that you know won't come right."

Giovanni Bedeschi is the founder and owner of Bedeschi Film. After graduating from Istituto d’Arte Beato Angelico art school in Milan, in 1980 he started his career in advertising working for various agencies including Ata, Bates and McCann. In 1991 he became Associate Creative Director at Saatchi&Saatchi and, in the same year, directed his first commercial for Neutro Roberts, chosen by Paul Arden for the Cannes 'New Talent Showcase' that year.

In 1992 Giovanni started his career as a director at NPA before moving to New Partner and BBE Politecne. In 1996 he began working as a freelancer in Mexico, the Middle East, Russia and the US.

In 2002, Giovanni opened his own production company, Bedeschi Film. He has won many awards including the Targa d’Oro for a film for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, the Art Directors’ Club Key Award, and the prestigious Addy Award for a Corona Beer commercial. Bedeschi Film won several Cannes Lions awards in 2016.

Giovanni is a fellow lecturer at Milan Brera Academy of Art and is currently working on his first feature film 'Pane dal Cielo'. National and international clients include Pastificio Rana, Efko, Giorgio Armani, Rovagnati, Banca Intesa, Discovery Real Time and Almaverde Bio, to name just a few.

Mandala Creative Productions was founded in 1998 and has quickly become a point of reference for production services, photographic shoots and special events.

Over the years, the company has expanded to represent photographers from all over the world specialised in different areas, from advertising to fashion, food, interiors, CGI and still life. As a full service company, it supports clients in creative, logistic and conceptual direction, set and event coordination, all with high attention to details.

Mandala Creative Productions’ highly specialised staff includes a range of professionals with backgrounds in production, styling, event organisation, communication, advertising, fashion, editorials and still life.

Clients include Adidas, Alessi, Armando Testa, Barilla, BCube, Bvlgari, Corneliani, DLV BBDO, Ferrarelle, Ferrero, Havas Worldwide, Illy, JWT, Leagas Delaney, Leo Burnett, Leroy Merlin, Loro Piana, Luxottica, Marie Claire USA, M&C Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, Peugeot, Publicis, Samsung, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sky, Sony, Telecom, Vanity Fair, Vodafone, Vogue and Young&Rubicam.

Welcome to Showcase Italy, brought to you by Production Paradise. This issue features some of the leading photo agents, photographers, photo & film production companies, hair & make up artists, illustrators, location scouts and services, rental studios and more, currently working out of Italy.

You can find more creative professionals and facilities for photographic and film production in our Milan (Photo / Film) and Rome (Photo / Film) directories.

Companies including Dolce & Gabbana, Apple, Ferrero, Shell, LG, Emporio Armani, Heineken, Alfa Romeo, Elle, Roberto Cavalli, Universal Studio, Glamour, Jaguar, and L'Officiel, among others, have trusted these professionals with their latest advertising campaigns and editorial shoots.

Be sure not to miss our recommended events:

• Paola Di Bello photography exhibition, until 2nd April at Museo del Novecento, Milan.
• 6th edition of Festival Fotografico Europeo, until 30th April in Milan and surrounding towns. 
• Henri Cartier-Bresson photography exhibition, until 11th June at Palazzo ducale di Genova. 

Our cover image, featuring  model Gigi Hadid, was shot by photographer Mario Testino. Production by Mai Mascioni Associati.

A bunch of passionate and skilled qualified chaps created Aerial Film Club in 2014 to offer tailored solutions and supporting services for any need in aerial and stabilised filming of any kind.

The Club not only offers aerial filming, contacts with helicopter companies and permits but anything that might be necessary and useful. It is also specialised in cinematography, direction, production and co-production of original projects involving aerial filming.

Aerial Film Club owns a Shotover F1, the must-have today in aerials. Supporting partners include:

• Elikos - aerial filming gurus.
• Pilots: Gabriel and Markus Kostner.
• Aerial Perspectives - operating in Europe and all over the world, China included.
• Aerial Cinematographer: Irmin Kerck.
• Franco Maria Salamon - stuntman, and his company Seals, when stunt coordination is needed.
• Piumaworld - designers of CityCam. They just announced their agency agreement with Hildemann and partners for the sale of the Shotover U1 G1 system in Italy.

Morena Russo started her journey in fashion in Milan, collaborating with up-and-coming designers and models agencies while working for Prada.

In 2004 she moved to New York where she learned each step of fashion production, from creating a collection from A to Z to bringing it to life on the runway. In 2012 after her return to Italy, she opened Connecting Dots with two branches in Milan and Taormina.

Connecting Dots is an agency specialised in fashion production, show direction, collection developement and backstage coordination, booking and management of creative talents and location coordination.

Morena has collaborated with brands like Missoni, Diesel Black Gold, Dsquared2, Tod’s, Fay, Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Blumarine, and celebrities like Giovanni Bianco and Madonna.

With more than 10 years of experience in international productions, Lule Production is a full service company based in Italy, with a focus on photography as a commercial medium.

The company manages all aspects of a production, from accommodation to specifc location scouting. Finding the best models for a shoot is also a speciality.

For each production the company chooses only the best and most qualifed professional freelancers, creating a team of professionals that works in unison. A successful combination of advertising and fashion is its hallmark.

"Viewed as a whole, Andrea Varani's photos make us think of an album that a distinguished explorer continues to add to over the years, with images of trips to spectacular, at times remote places in the company of wonderous creatures.

They are portraits of landscapes in tones that are both icy and intimate, at the same time far removed yet similar in style, reminiscent of a documentary by Wenders who entrusts Irving Penn and other masters of the 20th Century with the role of director of photography.

Places so geographically distant that only the constant search for beauty (that never breaks out into ostentation), can bring so intimately close together.

Thousands of miles flown each year, meticulous, frenetic organisation, frequent changes of programme, and finally, arrival in the most disparate landscapes with their alternating seasons, in order to capture beauty in a brief moment, and then return it with calm wonder. Fashion that is worn, interpreted at times with alienated postures, at others with bemused participation, becomes the cause and effect of every shot and every journey."

Maria Greco Naccarato has worked for many years as a food consultant and food stylist, designing recipes and writing articles for food magazines and collaborating with major culinary events.

In early 2012, she devoted herself to film direction and photography, making her debut with 'Zero Table Top'.

Addicted to detail and with an acute understanding of the need to create appetizing visuals, Maria is able to visually convey the pleasure of 'taste' and 'scent' in every  shot.

Framing food in every aspect of her work: creating the perfect food image needs food awareness and knowledge.

Her beautiful kitchen is equipped in such a way that even the best restaurants would be green with envy!