Small Talk with Director Alberto Accettulli

Welcome back to CINQ's 'Small Talk', an interview series spotlighting directors, DOPs, and other talented crew. In this next interview, director Alberto Accettulli explores how he handles early morning shoots, being an awkward Italian, and why he’s ready for AI to takeover. 

Q> You’ve shot recently in Czech. How did you enjoy it?

Alberto> I love Czech, aside from the lack of air conditioning, the fact they don’t serve beverages with ice unless you beg for it, and the refusal to accept American Express. 

But yeah, everything else is great!

Shooting in Prague and Brno was amazing. The locations are stunning, and the crew is like Navy Seals - super disciplined, super efficient, and everyone’s excited to make cool films.

Q> How do you handle early mornings on shooting days?

Alberto> Actually, it's pretty easy. The hard part is surviving a million meetings just to decide if the talent should wear a green t-shirt or a blue one… 

As I prematurely age - thanks to how fast time flies - I’m dead by 10pm and up by 5am, so it’s no big deal. The real bummer is that I never have time to work out before heading to set. I once tried doing push-ups between takes, but I just looked like an idiot. Some DOPs I’ve worked with even have videos of me doing it. They're blacklisted, though.

Q> Do you consider other directors more as colleagues or competitors?

Alberto> Mmm, you know that awkward moment at Cannes Lions when you’re on La Croisette, and you meet someone, and for a split second, you're both hoping the other person is a producer who'll change your life? So, you ask, “What do you do?” and they go, “I'm a director!” That mutual disappointment pretty much sums up the relationship with other directors.

But when we meet up, we all pretend to get along like old buddies. It’s quite entertaining.

Q> Where do you get your inspiration, from the online or offline world?

Alberto> Both. I travel constantly, so people-watching is my number one source of inspo. Content creators are another great source. I love those who create trends without needing a 50-person crew and a fat budget. I believe it’s all about the idea.

Q> Where can I get better pizza than in Italy?

Alberto> To me, pizza is just a pointless overload of calories! I’m an awkward Italian—I don’t drink espresso, don’t eat pizza, don’t do Nutella, don’t gesture wildly with my hands, and pasta? Mmm...it’s just okay.

Q> What was your dream as a 10-year-old?

Alberto> I wanted to be a private investigator, like Sherlock Holmes. In fact, I was the youngest member of the Italian Sherlock Holmes Club and even went to school wearing a deerstalker - the iconic Sherlock hat. Had it shipped from England, to my mother’s joy. You can imagine how well that went over at school…

Q> Your IG bio says you're waiting for AI to take over. Do you think it will really happen?

Alberto> Oh, definitely. That’s why I’ve bought a bunch of AI stocks - so when it steals my job, it’ll at least be paying me off indirectly.

You can’t beat the future. It’s like Uber vs. taxis - no point in fighting it.

The truth is, clients will never spend more if they can spend less. Just think about the pitching process, the director battles, going through treatments, multiple rounds of money negotiations, locations, production services, post-production, fancy hotels, and expensive dinners… so many costs just to make a 30-second film! All of this could be replaced by one person behind a laptop having coffee at Starbucks, creating gold from scratch for the same cost as a business class flight. Who do you think wins in that scenario?

Q> You’re a big car fan. Which one would you choose to travel the world?

Alberto> If I’m gonna spend a lot of time in a car, might as well do it in a Porsche.

Q> Analogue or digital camera?

Alberto> I can’t stand analogue. I don’t have the patience to get film developed. A lot of people in our biz love to parade around with their little Leicas, claiming there's nothing like them.

But I love iPhone photography - it’s so immediate, so contemporary and so convenient.

Q> How will your world look in 20 years?

Alberto> By then, AI will have taken over, so I’ll probably be on a tropical island, enjoying life and only worrying about what to have for lunch - definitely not sitting in a meeting with people half my age, discussing fingers typing on some futuristic dashboard in an EV.

This is potentially the best job in the world, but everything has its time. When you’ve done something for too long, you lose your edge. Like any good athlete, you’ve gotta know when it’s time to retire - and let AI do the job for you. The time is now.