Mediaset dons Silva
TV group inks producer to non-exclusive pact
"This is the first time I'll be working with Mediaset. After I left RAI in 1998, I wanted to wait some time before working for their competitor." Silva said, noting that he will now produce programs on a non-exclusive basis for both Mediaset and RAI.
RAI dispute
Silva and pubcaster RAI have had a close but difficult relationship. The last clash came in 1998, when Silva resigned abruptly as head of RAI Cinemafiction, the department he created in 1996 to increase the quality and quantity of RAI production, after the new board of the network reduced his power and budget.
However, he continued working for RAI as an outside producer and is currently writing "Octopus 10" and another series called "Suspicion."
With Mediaset, Silva has started working on "Boys and Girls," a long-running series dealing with the emotional and sexual problems of a group of teenagers, and on "Empire," a miniseries about a policeman involved in a criminal plan to smuggle illegal aliens into Italy.
Other projects for Mediaset include the saga of an Italian family near Bologna, and literary classics such as Somerset Maugham's "Rain" and "Of Human Bondage."
