Cecchi Gori, Vittorio

(1942-)

   Producer. Vittorio Cecchi Gori has produced or coproduced over 150 films since he entered the industry in 1980, first working with his father, veteran producer Mario Cecchi Gori, and then assuming control of the family company on his father's death in 1993. Although an interest in politics, several television stations, and the difficult financial situation of the Fiorentina soccer team, which the family also owned, have frequently diverted his attention from the cinema, he has continued since his father's death to produce a host of commercially viable films, scoring huge successes in particular with Leonardo Pieraccioni's Il ciclone (The Cyclone, 1996) and Roberto Benigni's La vita e bella (Life Is Beautiful, 1997). In 1996 he shared an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA award for his coproduction of Michael Radford's Il postino (The Postman, 1994) and in 2000 he was awarded a special David di Donatello for his general services to Italian cinema.