Rome fest to honor 'Lost' duo

ROME -- "Lost" stewards Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will be feted by the Eternal City's expanding Rome Fiction Fest dedicated to international TV skeins.

The co-creators and executive producers of ABC's hit series will receive the shindig's top nod in recognition of "Lost" as "a milestone in global TV" and "a fundamental reference point for serial production in the upcoming decades," the event's organizers said.

Now in its third edition, the July 6-11 fest for TV fare from Hollywood and Europe aims to become a driver for the burgeoning Italian TV industry. Local content currently runs on pubcaster RAI, Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset group of channels, and Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia paybox, but Italo producers aspire to international sales. That is the purpose of the event's embryonic mart, which makes its debut this year.

Artistic director Steve Della Casa said he is planning to sharpen the fest's focus by slimming down the lineup and "giving more prominence to premieres," many of which will hail from the majors.

A retro titled Giallo in Black and White will pay tribute to the golden age of Italian TV thrillers, including several rarely seen Dario Argento telepics produced by RAI.

As previously announced, "CSI:NY" star Hill Harper has been enlisted by the Rome Fiction Fest for jury duty.

Della Casa also said that the fest, a sister event of the Rome Film Festival, has secured its budget despite the recession by becoming the cornerstone of the recently unveiled Fondazione Lazio, the region's new foundation set up to drive the Italo film and TV industries, two-thirds of which are based in the area.

Source: Variety