WE ARE ILBE STUDIOS

AND THIS IS OUR STORY...

When you combine talent, passion and creativity, you can achieve anything. As our team steadily grows and reaches new levels of innovation and expertise through teamwork, bold and sharp ideas, developing engaging and magical projects, we continue to turn our founder’s vision into reality. By creating content from scratch: FROM IDEATION TO REALIZATION.

Now, let us take you on a quick journey. We’ll show you how we started, what we achieved in less than two years, where we are now and where we are headed!

In order to tell you our whole story, we must go back in time. It all began in the Eternal City. In 2011, our parent company Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment (ILBE) was founded by Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi. ILBE is a global production company operating in the international film and television industry, producing films, TV-shows, web series and much more. ILBE is officially listed on the Euronext Growth Milan and Paris markets, with a clear “Hollywood” footprint and a strong focus on OTT content for international audiences.

2011-2018 / Hollywood Quality Made in Italy – for the Whole World

Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi have been producing not only ‘Made in Italy’ cinema but also international cinema, based on the business model used by major Hollywood studios. They have proved that with the right attitude, talent and people around you, you can achieve anything. Some of their productions include “The Poison Rose” starring John Travolta and Morgan Freeman, “Waiting for the Barbarians” starring Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, and, as you’ll see when you drag the screen to the left, a couple of animated productions which are of vital importance for our studio and represent ILBE’s vision for the future of animation and entertainment!

2019 / Arctic Dogs – ILBE Enters the World of Animation

“Arctic Dogs” (also known as Arctic Justice) is an animated film that was released in 2019 and produced by Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, starring the voices of distinguished Hollywood stars: James Franco, Alec Baldwin, Jeremy Renner, Heidi Klum, Anjelica Houston, John Cleese, just to name a few.

Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment acquired the intellectual property rights of the “Arctic Dogs” characters for the production of future spin-offs, which is an integral part of ILBE’s growth strategy and indicative of their commitment to quality filmmaking and collaborations with international stars. But as trends change fast, expectations in today’s digital world demand a fresh approach. This led to a new vision and future for the animation.

Mobile-short and Animated Content

How often do you watch stories and reels on social media until the end? Not too often, right? Welcome to the club. Andrea Iervolino realized this and became fully aware of this decrease in people’s attention span, while in general, there was a greater need for content. For him, this was not an obstacle, but an opportunity.

Andrea Iervolino is someone who always takes everything into account in order to produce ideas that will be effective, engaging and highly entertaining, in an industry that is constantly changing. A visionary, ahead of his time. During a global pandemic and isolation, streaming platforms exploded onto the scene and have been the major source of global entertainment since.
Kids today grow up watching animated films on smartphones. Andrea thought about it all, did his research, and concluded: THE FUTURE OF ANIMATION LIES IN SHORT FORMAT.

This led to him think about opening an animation studio. The only question was, where? And so, our co-founders explored the world of animation with a clear goal. Since 2019, Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment focused its production mainly on animated web series in mobile-short content format, with five-minute episodes, opening a new window into the world of entertainment and an avant-garde vision on the future of entertainment.

2020 / The Future Is Now - Web Series "Arctic Friends"

In September 2020, “Arctic Friends”, a short-format animated series was released, as the product of our co-founders’ fresh and innovative approach. The series is a spin-off of “Arctic Dogs”, the 2019 animated feature film which quickly gained a lot of popularity and earned top rating in Netflix’s animated category. It was produced by Andrea Iervolino and Lady Monika Bacardi, and it consists of five-minute episodes, featuring the lovable characters from “Arctic Dogs”. What followed next is the most important animated project for our studio’s first steps, so let’s move on.

The "Puffins" & Johnny Depp Take the World by Storm

The rising popularity of “Arctic Dogs” and its spin-off sequel “Arctic Friends” led to a new animated web series called “Puffins”, made for kids and families around the world, starring one of the greatest Hollywood actors of all times: Johnny Depp!

The “Puffins” series, made out of 250 five-minute episodes, represents a spin-off of the animated film ‘Arctic Dogs’: a fun adventure for the whole family. Johnny Depp lends his character, voice and musical talent to Johnny Puff, one of the main protagonists. The series was produced by Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment, and its success was a clear indication of the global demand that is present for high-quality short content and proof that animation never gets old. Only one week after its release on Apple TV, “Puffins” reached the first place in viewership.

In the Meantime

Working together on the film ’Beyond the Edge’, starring Antonio Banderas, Andrea Iervolino met Miloš Biković, who is the owner and founder of Archangel Digital Studios, a Serbian production company. Their friendship grew into a partnership, and Miloš invited Andrea to a movie premiere here in Serbia. During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Miloš introduced him to the potential and talent that the Serbian artists possess. Having already decided on opening an animation studio, Andrea realized that Serbia was the perfect place to do it!

2020-2021 / First Year of ILBE Studios – Two Cities, One Team, Johnny Depp & Puffins Impossible

Even though it was a tough year for the whole world, our co-founders would not be stopped. The story of ILBE Studios, formerly Iervolino Studios, officially began in 2020, in two locations, Novi Sad, and Belgrade. By signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia and a Memorandum of Cooperation with Archangel Digital Studios, we kicked off our business operations, unlocked the potential of Serbia’s hidden gems, leading us to a successful start!

In our first year, the ILBE Studios team created 54 episodes (3 seasons) of the first animated series to be created and produced in Serbia – the “Puffins Impossible” series.

The superhero sequel of the “Puffins” series, “Puffins Impossible” originated in Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment (ILBE), it was created by ILBE Studios, and produced by Archangel Digital Studios. Archangel Digital Studios is our strategic partner and the production company of the series, in charge of recruiting directors, sound designers, and compositors.

A Vision Turned Reality - Made in Serbia for Audiences Around the World

What we set out to do was unprecedented in our country, and in the region. Now, people don’t have to leave their country to do what they love if they are storytellers and artists passionate about animation. ILBE Studios is a more than a studio. It is a community where imaginative, enthusiastic people who are young at heart, can showcase their talents and leave their mark in the world of animation. The Puffins Impossible series was created in our studio, but it is made for families and children around the world, who want to watch educational, action-packed, superhero adventures on the world’s greatest streaming platforms. This brings us to 2022, another exciting year for ILBE Studios!

2022 / Two Years of ILBE Studios! A Growing Team, Puffins Impossible Release, and our Internal Training Center

One chapter comes to an end, and another one begins! Since the founding of our studio in 2020, we have achieved much together. In October 2021, Johnny Depp officially opened our studio in Belgrade. In April 2022, “Puffins Impossible” was officially released on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, as well as on TaTaTu and CHILI – in more than 90 countries! In early 2022, we also opened our Internal Training Center. A platform for current and future professionals in this industry!

We welcomed many amazing people to our team, which now counts more than 100 people. A unique tailor-made design was developed specifically for our studio. We expanded our offices and our portfolio, opened new departments, started working with clients from all over the world, providing services related to 3D, animation, CGI, etc. Our studio is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, and side by side with top international and local experts, we do what we love right here in Serbia – creating Great Stories for the Young and Young at Heart.

On the Threshold of 2023 / New Name, New Future, Same Mission

We enter 2023 in style – with a new name: ILBE Studios, short for Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment Studios, as well as with a new visual identity. Formerly Iervolino Studios, the decision to change our name and visual identity was made to integrate our brand more firmly into our parent company's portfolio, the global television and film production company, Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment (ILBE), based in Rome. Our new brand image represents the next stage of development of ILBE Studios and opens the door to large international projects in the future and strengthens the bond between our teams in Serbia and Italy, which can only lead to more success, a new growth phase for our company, and a greater amount of projects for worldwide audiences to enjoy. On to the next chapter!

...TO BE CONTINUED...