HBO, Rai Fiction and TIMVISION Series MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, Directed by Saverio Costanzo, Debuts This Fall

Recently wrapping production in Caserta, Italy, the HBO, RAI FICTION and TIMVISION series MY BRILLIANT FRIEND debuts this fall. 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 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, while Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace played them as teenagers. In total, MY BRILLIANT FRIEND includes a cast of more than 150 actors and 5,000 extras.

The production's construction team of 150 crew members 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 gathered 1,500 costumes, many of which were 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 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.

When the most important friend in her life seems to have disappeared without a trace, Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman immersed in a house full of books, turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their friendship. She met Raffaella Cerullo, whom she has always called Lila, in the first year of primary school in 1950. Set in a dangerous and fascinating Naples, their story goes on to cover more than 60 years of their lives as she tries to describe the mystery of Lila, Elena's brilliant friend and - in a way - her best friend, and her worst enemy.

About Home Box Office

HBO(R) is one of the most respected and innovative entertainment brands in the world, serving iconic, award-winning programming to 142 million subscribers globally. A subsidiary of WarnerMedia, HBO is the world's most successful pay TV service with an extensive array of programming that includes some of the most notable titles to be on television including Game of Thrones(R), Big Little Lies(R), Westworld(R), The Sopranos(R), Sex and the City(R), Band of Brothers(R), and The Wire(R). In the United States, HBO(R) and sister network Cinemax(R) are available across multiple platforms including HBO On Demand(R), CineMax On Demand(R), HBO GO(R) and MAX GO(R), as well as HBO NOW(R). Internationally, HBO branded services, including television networks and the standalone streaming product HBO GO(R), are available in more than 70 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. HBO and CineMax programming is also sold into more than 150 countries worldwide.

About Rai Fiction

Rai Fiction is RAI's editorial management, in charge of the production of fiction for all the Italian public service networks. It is one of the most important European production companies with 200 million annual investments, and a production of more than 400 hours every year. In recent years, Rai Fiction has implemented a line for the creation of large international co-productions. Rai is the exclusive agency in Italy for public service television and radio broadcasting. The Rai Group is present on all media platforms with a vast free offer, differentiated according to genres and targets. Every day in Italy around 41,7 million persons aged 4 or over, a number that represents 71% of the country's population, follow Rai's offerings, including 13 DDTV channels, 6 of which also available in HD, and 10 radio stations. TV content is also available on the "Tiv' Sat" platform and other satellite systems, and on Rai Play.

About TIMVISION

TIMVISION is a company of the TIM Group involved in production and co-production projects of movies and TV series, in collaboration with the main players on the Italian and international market. The content produced increase the TIMVISION catalogue, TIM's TV on demand, which offers to its clients the most popular TV series, unreleased movies, cartoons, documentaries, and entertainment as first previews. With its 1.5 million costumers, TIMVISION is one of the main Italian streaming platforms. The TIM Group is the largest ICT company in Italy, providing services to enable the digital life of the country. TIM's offerings are based on high quality and the large-scale distribution of converged services and premium content, thanks to the development of an innovative ultra-broadband infrastructure.

About Wildside

Founded in 2009, the company has produced award-winning movies with talents such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Marco Bellocchio and Saverio Costanzo, competing in Europe's most renowned festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin), and has also accomplished a long streak of commercial hits. For TV, amongst other titles, Wildside has produced three seasons of the local adaptation of "In Treatment," "1992" and "1993," the debut in television of Academy Award(R)-winning director Paolo Sorrentino, "The Young Pope," starring Jude Law. Wildside is part of FremantleMedia, one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world.

About Fandango

Domenico Procacci's Fandango was set up in 1989. Since then it has produced over 100 nation and international movies featured at several film festivals and winners of a number of awards, including two Jury Gran Prix prizes at Cannes with "Gomorrah" and "Reality," both directed by Matteo Garrone. Other directors the company has worked with in the years include Nanni Moretti, Paolo Sorrentino, Michelangelo Antonioni, Emir Kusturica, Rolf de Heer, Milcho Manchevski, Emanuele Crialese, Richard Lowenstein, Gabriele Muccino, Daniele Vicari, Luciano Ligabue and Ferzan Ozpetek. In addition, Fandango produces and develops TV series and TV movies, including "Gomorrah Season 1, 2 and 3," "Limbo" and "L'Oriana."