NEWEN ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF THE ITALIAN VERSION OF “THE FIRST YEARS”

Newen’s distribution arm Newen Connect, Showlab and Rai Ragazzi announced the launch of the Italian version of the kids’ format “The First Years,” originally created and produced by Newen’s subsidiary Tuvalu Media in the Netherlands. “POV - I primi anni,” already adapted in six territories, is produced by the Turin-based company Showlab in collaboration with Rai Ragazzi, and tells the daily life of a group of teens during the first two years of high school.

To satisfy the strict sanitary measures against the pandemic, the entire cast of actors and crew lived for more than a month confined to the campus of the UN's International Labour Organization ILO on the banks of the river Po in Turin. The 52 episodes of 12-minute each of “POV - I primi anni” premiered on Rai Gulp and Rai Play on February 1.

“Partnering with Showlab and pubcaster Rai Gulp for the Italian adaptation of ‘The First Years’ has been a unique collaboration. Being a teen is quite something and feeling immersed in their daily lives, what they feel, what they dream of, what they are concerned about give an unfiltered access to them. We hope the young viewers in Italy will identify themselves with the great characters (and young Italian talents) as many others did in other countries,”  said Nadia Chevallard, Head of International Sales at Newen Connect.

"The experience of the pandemic has made teenagers more and more interested in telling the story of the contemporary world, with a language that must be honest and sincere, even when it deals with difficult subjects. Teenagers have their own views of reality and want to be taken seriously,"  commented Luca Milano, Director of Rai Ragazzi.

Emiel Neervoort, Managing Director at Tuvalu Media, added: “We are delighted that Rai Ragazzi has picked up our format ‘The First Years’. Many new generations in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and many more territories have grown up with our honest and authentic stories, and we feel confident that the series will grow into a widespread phenomenon in Italy as well”.

Lastly, Alfio Bastiancich, producer of the series for Showlab, declared: "At a time when the genre of fiction for teenagers is booming, ‘POV’ overturns its paradigm by asking the teenagers themselves to get involved with their feelings and using the means of communication most suited to them".