Awaiting the next edition, Lucca Comics & Games unveils one of the most important innovations of 2022: the project Comics & Games Factorya call for ideas promoted by Lucca Crea srl and Lucca Comics & Games with the exclusive partnership of Intesa Sanpaolo.
Always focused on dialogue with the younger audience, Comics & Games Factory aims to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives and projects under 35 within the four sectors that represent the beating heart of Lucca Comics & Games: esport, video game, content creation, web comics or webtoon. The aim is to identify and reward the most innovative ideas, which can generate a socio-cultural impact and new employment opportunities.
Thanks to the renewed collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo – in addition to Lucca Comics & Games since 2017 – the common attention to the interests and dreams of the new generations of talented young people allows not only to express their inspiration, but also to consolidate their creative idea in a professional project.
Leading Italian streamer and content creator Sara “Kurolily” Stefanizzi and Mario Moroni, podcaster, digital entrepreneur and startup expert, are ambassadors of the initiative.
Emanuele Vietina, general manager of Lucca Comics & Games, said:
We are excited to announce today another outstanding initiative in our active talent support portfolio: the Comics & Games Factory. For years we have been planning, side by side with the main publishers, opportunities to enter the world of creative professions and today we are here to do that with Intesa Sanpaolo with whom we have been walking hand in hand for years, united by a common vision and values. This Factory is intended for young creatives, to give them the opportunity to share their ideas and understand how to realize them. To the talent must be added concreteness and planning, we are proud to have involved some of the leading Italian professionals of the Creative Industries in the coaching trajectories and in the jury board. Workshops, classes and heart-pounding pitch… we can’t wait to leave the Lucca Comics & Games stage to the participants to turn their creativity into a profession.
A jury of experts selects the best projects, which will be presented during the next edition of Lucca Comics & Games (from October 28 to November 1) in the Intesa Sanpaolo area.
The jury will consist of Emanuele Vietina (Director of Lucca Comics & Games), Claudia Vassena (Head of Sales & Marketing Digital Retail Intesa Sanpaolo), Ilja Rotelli (Head of Investment & Business Development at Amazon International), Valeria Zaffina (Group Brand Manager at Ubisoft), Renato Franchi (Head of Marketing at Star Comics), Fabio Viola (Metaverse Designer, Videogame Designer and Producer, Videogames Museum Curator), Mario Cortese (CEO of GateOnGames), Gabriele Troilo (Marketing Professor at Bocconi University), Daniel Schmidhofer (CEO of Progaming), Gian Luca Rocco (New media and video games journalist at Mediaset) and Patricia Consonni (Creative Agency Partner for Meta Italia).
For Claudia Vassena, Intesa Sanpaolo Digital Retail Sales & Marketing Manager:
The world of comics and gaming embraces the passions of multiple generations. That is why we have been supporting the friends of Lucca Comics & Games for years. Innovation, digitization and creative thinking are at the heart of this world. Being the driving force behind it is a source of great satisfaction for Intesa Sanpaolo. Just as it is a priority for us to make important choices together with the new generations, to finance their studies, to buy their first home, to provide training and employment to introduce young people to the world of work. Among other things, creativity is also a highly valued factor in our selections.
During the days of the event, the Intesa Sanpaolo area will also host a series of meetings dedicated to the theme of innovation with several guests, including Pow3r (streamer and content creator) and Anna Franini (Forbes journalist).
Practical information
Registrations for the call for ideas open today, Monday 20 June. Applications to participate can be submitted free of charge until Thursday 4 August 2022 via the online form on the initiative website (https://comicsandgamesfactory.it/).
Each application must include an abstract of the business idea, project pitch, business model canvas and a hypothesis about follow-up actions and possible requests for services and consultancy that one would like to use in case of victory. Informal groups can participate in the initiative (ie all those who have no business activities at the time of participation) consisting of a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 5 participants per group. At the time of registration, participants must be at least 18 and at most 35 years old.
The jury will select 3 projects based on the originality of the idea, innovativeness, economic and market feasibility, follow-up and consistency between the curricula of the members of the informal group and the project presented. The 3 winning projects will be announced on Thursday 8 September.
The selected groups will participate in a coaching program from September 12 to 29, in which a pool of experts and consultants work with them to refine and further develop business ideas. During this training period, each group will have to develop a 2.0 project, developed from the initial idea, using the notions gained during the coaching.
During the festival days, the final ranking is announced, the candidates present their works and the budget for each project is allocated in terms of services and advice useful to turn the candidate’s idea into a profession.
The full rules of the initiative are available at https://comicsandgamesfactory.it/
Source: Lega Nerd
