Meet John & Giovanna Capone | Filmmakers

We had the good fortune of connecting with John & Giovanna Capone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John & Giovanna, what role has risk played in your life or career?
We think about risk as an opportunity for growth and success, as long as we’ve done our best to calculate it is the best way forward. We look at each feature film project we develop as a risk inherently. All filmmaking is no matter how big the budget, the names of the talent, or the studio support. If we weigh the upsides of a project being greater than any of the costs, we feel a strong sense that the timing is right! Our first feature film was a great example. We knew going in that we risked a lot, particularly financially, and we were upfront about it with our investors. But we were careful to articulate that the upside to the project would be a calling card for our next film, which we are happy to see has proven true.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Our production company La Famiglia Pictures was founded on the idea to create bold, original stories that strive to fulfill a gap that unfortunately continues to increase in content offerings each year. We develop our film projects to straddle the line between mainstream entertainment and intimate, thoughtful stories of substance. These types of films are becoming an extinct species in the marketplace and we’ve learned it’s not the fault of a lack of audience. There are large communities of audience members who would like to see these films made. It is, rather, the capture of the financial side of the film business and the devotion to trends that produce profit in the short term (and fair enough!). We think a little differently. We still consider ourselves a nascent company and we’re taking our time to build project by project. We know if we put everything we have into crafting a unique story that finds a niche all its own, over time we will garner a strong following of like-minded audience members and define our brand over the long term. It hasn’t been easy. It requires patience and perseverance. We’ve experienced bumps in the road, lags in executing our timelines, and plenty of failure in our first few years, as any independent film company or small business does. We wouldn’t have it any other way, though. We enjoy owning the successes and failures ourselves, learning from them, and implementing a stronger, more rewarding process with each successive opportunity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We live in Yucca Valley, CA right outside Joshua Tree National Park. There is so much to do in a week in the high desert! To start, hikes in the Park are some of the most unique and fascinating in the country. Barker Dam, Ryan Mountain, and 49 Palms Oasis are three of our favorites. Camping in Joshua Tree is also top-notch. The night sky is so clear you can see our planet’s position in the Milky Way, a truly humbling experience. We love the rugged, western, but elegant feel of all the restaurants and points of interest out here. The Copper Room in Yucca Valley and Kitchen in the Desert in 29 Palms are two of our favorite restaurants. We think Anthony Bourdain covered the area best in his 2011 show “No Reservations” with Joshua Tree hometown hero Joshua Homme of Queens of the Stone Age.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We’d like to dedicate our shoutout to the Baron Brown Studio in Santa Monica who are devoted to teaching the Meisner Technique and fostering strong, self-sufficient acting talent and storytellers. They were an important launchpad for us as they go above and beyond the typical acting class experience and strive to equip actors and storytellers with a deep sense of personal responsibility and craft about what they do. We learned so much about the mechanisms of story, dramaturgy, and the tradition of stage and film which served as a great foundation for our ethos as a business in the entertainment & media industry.

Website: lafamigliapictures.com

Instagram: @lafamigliapics @giovannandolina @jcaponer

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncapone11/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovanna-andolina-53a4b8248/

Twitter: @lafamigliapics @jcap312

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lafamigliapictures

Image Credits
NEON BLEED_landscape.jpeg (Poster Art by Juliette Fogra)