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Manifatture Digitali Cinema

A multifunction hub within the audiovisual sector

Cineporto is a project promoted by Fondazione Sistema Toscana and supported by the Municipality of Prato, the Tuscan Region and the Ministry of Economy. Its aim is that of operating as a multifunction hub within the audiovisual sector. Numerous services will be available in support of productions, with the objective of promoting within the audiovisual industry the attractiveness of Tuscany locations for indoor and outdoor film shoots. The responsible authority is Fondazione Sistema Toscana. The Municipality of Prato is temporarily providing at no charge the premises for training and for support to the productions. The historic complex of the former Convent of Santa Caterina (about 1500 sqm) will house:
• a casting room
• a technical room for viewing rushes
• training classrooms and labs (storytelling, costumes, scenography, etc.)
• a warehouse
• a sound stage
Training will consist of short-term intensive modules, with access to paid internships.

A Cineporto (a "Movie Factory") will be built; a space designed to make available the best logistical and organizational conditions during local film productions, with offices, equipment, a casting room and meeting rooms. All productions taking place at Cineporto will be offered the expertise and products developed in the model making/carpentry and costume design laboratories. The project also involves the construction of L'Officina, a warehouse for storing sets and materials that will be made available by theatres as free loans. Props will be inventoried and offered online with the option of being modified.

The objective is the creation of an applied educational workshop. Thanks to the storytelling skills developed during training and to the support of new digital technology, innovative communication productions will be created in the movie sector and for public and private bodies. Visual communication is immediately perceived and understood and lends itself well to being memorized; it is the most efficient method of conveying information, notions and perceptions about complex societies. The multicultural nature of the Prato community makes the city an ideal place where to build the Movie Factory. The project's ambitious objectives include the redirection of the city's artisanal skills towards the cinema and audio-visual sector.

In particular, the creation of new businesses in the recovery, reuse and recycling of theatre props, growth in employment opportunities for artisans, technicians and professionals who participate in the training activities, an increase in film productions in Tuscany, and the development of new frontiers of knowledge based on the digitization of some functions. The collaboration with the Toscana Film Commission aims to open up new prospects for the development of the audio-visual sector in Tuscany.