Industry trade group Cartoon Italia has announced the appointment of Francesco Manfio, General Manager of Gruppo Alcuni, as its new president. Manfio was elected unanimously by the members of the executive board during the association's recent assembly.
"I am very honored and happy to have been chosen for this prestigious position," Manfio said in a statement. "The executive board is now determined to do its utmost in order to encourage the growth of this important cultural business sector to guarantee to Italian animation its deserved central role in the European market. Furthermore Cartoon Italia will support the creation of a European association of animation producers in order to bring greater coherence to professionals in this domain."
Manfio, an international expert in cinema and television for children, served as VP of Cartoon Italia for the last 3 years and worked closely with outgoing president Pietro Campedelli. He is the chairman of P.P.T.V. (the Association of the Theatre Professional Producers of Veneto) and is on the board of directors of the "Veneto Cinema Pro" association. He is also the international representative of C.I.C.T. (Conseil International du Cinéma de la Télévision et de la Communication audiovisuelle), a UNESCO organization created with the aim of "promoting the audiovisual communication in all its ways and all over the world, in order to put image and sound to use of education and culture."
As General Manager of Gruppo Alcuni, he is responsible for its animated productions and is the Executive Producer and co-author of the four seasons of the series PET PALS, LEONARDO, AND YET IT MOVES and SLASH://, which is currently in production. He is a founder of the International Centre for Children's Communication, a meeting point between authors, scholars and producers of children's programs, and the publisher of IDEE ("Ideas"), an Italian magazine about image education.
