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All started a long long time ago…….

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura! ”       Dante – INFERNO CANTO 1

Still running, still happy…..a lot wiser!!!!

A work in progress

There are always two sides to every story.

These Memories are my side of the story.

Dedicated to  Giada’s, Eloisa’s and Igor’s  50%DNA

Hopefully this will shade some light on the real story. All these tales swirling around are not paying any homage to the truth.

NB-@ the twilight of my life facing the final curtain, I can now reveal what she sees looking in the mirror. In a parallel reality that never existed she had to justify where was she when the monster was on the loose in the household. Hence the idea of the abused women came up.

An imposter not a shrinking violet. Although she had a bank account, wealthy parents(money was not an issue) her sister lived cross the street, she could have easily escaped the menace any time. She never did. Probably inspired by Pirandello “ Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore” picked up a new role.
Author ? Of what? A pile of lies written by a ghost writer.

Using my beloved Igor against me , creating false tails of his upbringing. Carrying my guns to her sister’s house giving the impression her life was in danger . Obviously no bullets were kept for safety reason.
Actress? Have you ever seen her award winning performances?
Well reality is that she was resentful of her sister attention by her father, uncontrollable sex driven desires of an adulteress with a real estate agent while looking at houses, to lawyers of any age. That was the real reason of her bitterness and fuelling divorce.
To help her out, I came up with the idea of a fashion designer business, providing her with a partner with skills and the last money we had during the company bankruptcy.
The only act of pseudo violence was a glass thrown at me.

I have few regrets, I did what I had to do, sometimes “I bit off more than I could chew…I ate it up and spit it out….I faced it all….and did it my way”

1969 A fateful year. An eventful year. From the first man on the moon to Woodstock to Charles Manson murders.

Lazy days of summer in Monte Carlo in 1969. Uber elegant, full of great looking people, expensive boats  and  delicious foods.

For me was my first trip to Bora Bora and meeting Veronica

In my early twenties the wind of life was blowing so fast I could hardly breathe. An apartment overlooking the harbor for my sister and I. Young, money in my  pocket , a nice car, the sky was the limit. Monte Carlo of the late 60’s was a hot spot for Italian successful entrepreneurs of the “Miracolo Economico” among many others: Giovanni  Borghi,  Caltagirone, Zanussi , Ljuba Rizzoli,  and the king Gianni Agnelli.  All there to indulge and be seen.

My favourite hangout was Les Frères de la Cote in Roquebrune just across  Le Pirate. In 69 Le Pirate was a very fun place , simple sea  food but a wild, expensive everything goes restaurant.

A Pirate of the Caribbean atmosphere. Robert Viale a Corsican  who could have been a real pirate in his previous life. Always bare chested, great drinker,  entertaining super famous people all his life. From Frank Sinatra to Jane Fonda to Kirk Douglas. Always Spanish music, very smoky  barbecue , flamenco , Always welcoming his famous customers with “Strangers in the night” and the unforgivable  friendly donkey trying to get your salad. Fishing nets on the trees where drunk super rich Italians losing their pants climbing and chasing drunk women. Burning tables in the big barbecue pit and breaking glasses at end of the night.

But for a young dude like me the Le Freres de la Cote was the place. Same pirate ambiance but for young people. Music, dancing, booze and women. Never forget Jule  a huge bar tender from Guadalupe overseeing the action . Gipi Viale son of Robert running the place.  He was the darling of blonde Swedish girls. On the hill behind he had a little hut  where they all were lining up to see him. Unfortunately that place doesn’t exist any more.

And then there was  Carlo an Italian who had a knack for connecting  people. Kind of chubby, gregarious always trying to get you hooked up with someone. Nights  were all action from the  Maona (later transformed by the legendary Regine into the Jimmy’z)   to Juan le Pen or Cap  d’Antibes and of course a drink at the Byblos in  St. Tropez. The fabulous hang-out made famous by Brigitte Bardot .After a busy night a bowl of spaghetti at 4am at the TipTop.. Always hungry and tasted so good.

After few days I finally had the opportunity while picking up  Freddy to have Veronica to come with us. That was the fateful moment in my life because drove  me in a direction  I shouldn’t have taken. For Veronica 1969 was also the year of many changes in her life. 1st trip to the US visiting Ralph Serpe’s daughters, first sexual encounter with a soldier who later died in Vietnam. A small part in the film “Waterloo”

Sometimes the action  was too much and had consequences . One night driving to Cannes on the low corniche with my beloved green Ferrari 330 I hit the curb in a curve and  lost control crashing against a deux chevaux that end up squeezed against an electric pole, with me and my super car  finishing in a store window.   The crash site was right in front of the local  gendarmerie. In a comic moment through the smoke gashing out from my defunct car I saw a gendarme holding his gun holster in one hand and his pants in the other,  running in underwear  to investigate . Not a good moment at all.

Well after that incident I had to revive my fortunes and bought a Lamborghini Islero, was not a Miura but very elegant inside and a lot more comfortable than my first FerrariGTB.

Now we are approaching the fateful moment. Carlo was friendly with Freddy and Raffy and knew that Dino had a big party for his 50th birthday  at La Casa del Mare in Roquebrune. So on the  8 of August 69 we went with Freddy’s invitation to the party. The house was certainly impressive even though felt in need of some TLC.

A lot of people , food all lavishly displayed on the great patio overlooking the garden and the sea.

Naturally we were looking for young guests among the rich and famous, but were mostly middle aged people.. We  left quite early since we had other plans set up for the evening. Few days later Carlo and I went to pick up Freddy at  the house. While we were waiting  in the driveway  a pretty  girl came out towards us. I still remember her long black silky dress. I asked with great curiosity who was that girl. Carlo very cool said “Veronica” Raffy’s sister. Better looking than Raffy and less showy.

She was also in a light relationship with Guido Borghi with DDL. very much interested in.

My impression was she wanted out of her family quickly and with Guido didn’t seem possible. Her father could have been sometime rough on her. She told me he used a fishing pole once  to serve discipline.
So when I came on to the horizon she found an alternative. With the benefit of hindsight the writing was on the wall.
Veronica and I became intimate rapidly and that was surprising. At the end of summer I decided to move to Rome to stay closer to her.
She lived in Villa Catena a 100 hectares refurbished 500 years old dimora with her parents , brother Freddy and sisters Raffy and Francesca.

Our relationship was very quick in developing. I was frequently at Villa Catena and we were spending everyday together and sometimes nights too. I enjoyed those merry times, a care free attitude . Late evening instead of leaving the house I used to turn the engine off and slip silently in the big garage. With the help of staff re-entered from a side passage ( remember this was a big 16th century castle) back into the house and in Veronica’s bedroom.

Dino and Silvana had a stormy relationship, you could fill a coldness and tense atmosphere in the house.

One of those particular nights in November 69  while we where in her bedroom we heard  a loud fight. Screaming and sound of broken items. Keep in mind her bedroom was right on top of Dino and Silvana’s suite. During that particular night while the fight was going on we were cuddling in bed . I remember asking Veronica if it was OK to have sex re mindful of a previous surprise in that department, few years before . She assured  me was OK. But wasn’t and Giada was so conceived .Matter of fact a couple of  months later was Veronica. indeed who asked me to get married after she discovered was pregnant . In 69 my mind was far from any desire or need to get stuck in a marriage. After a beautiful Bora Bora trip I was  looking forward to the next trip.  I had plans to go to Belém and Manaus for a documentary related to Folco Quilici. A nice apartment in Montecarlo and had just bought a stake in a promising business. A can manufacturing company outside Turin. A friend Paolo Bianco was running the business on my behalf unfortunately  when I moved to the US he kept it for himself finding his serendipity with my money. My  doubts about marrying were not about Veronica but about my freedom and being completely unready for the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Also my sister Tina had some misgivings about me marrying and unsure of my destiny.
But I liked Veronica and with a child coming I agreed to marry her. Silvana like all mothers was very helpful in facilitating the marriage. Dino was not much interested in, the only meeting we had was at DinoCitta together with his accountant Fred Sidewater, where the only question was – how much money you have?  Quickly I gave bank details and was all . Silvana organized the reception in Villa Catena, since to have it outside was too expensive and in those days their financial situation was quite unstable. On my side I organized a trip around the world following my adventurous traits. We got married on Feb 14 (Valentine day) at S. Sebastian church on Appia Antica. A beautiful church with catacombs and with the beautiful  Salvator Mundi of Lorenzo Bernini.

After the reception away to Milan at the Principi di Savoia. That first night as a married couple a weird thing happened. While I was in the bathroom I saw a mirror sticking out from under the door. Was Veronica in a peeping tom mood watching me on the toilet.

The trip really started in London eastward to Bali , Bangkok , India, Hong Kong Tokyo( in Hong Kong Veronica was kind of sick due to her pregnancy and I remember her fainting in a shop and me trying to hold her up and ending up only with her mink in my hands and her on the floor). Scary but uneventful. (We even found an Italian doctor in HK )  Then   back on a 747 inaugural flight from Tokyo to S. Francisco. In NY  we stayed at Dino’s Apt in 200 Central Park South. Nothing remarkable during the trip beside the Boeing 707 we were on blew up an engine on take-off.

So after more than a month we were back to a married life in Rome in V.Groenlandia 5 at the EUR in Rome. Our first house together.

1970 We settled in the house backed up by two maids and a governess to help Veronica in her new role. We were both very green to a married life. I remember spider webs in Veronica’s closet and a lot of activities to organize. Kids were born in a rapid sequence and a couple of years later we had to move to a bigger house.

In the meantime I was getting acquainted with the movie business. I was paired with  Franco Cancellieri who was producing “Dio sei proprio un padreterno” one of those movies , as I said before, made just to turn the cash wheel. Very bad and not enticing as first approach to the business.  Franco was very friendly and being in the business for a long time knew a lot of people. Introduced me to Franco Zeffirelli , Roman Polanski and others  giving me some more excitement. Through Veronica I got quite friendly with her cousin Aurelio at the time with Nicoletta. He after married a very interesting lady Jacqueline, the daughter of a Mayor of Geneva. Aurelio came across as a bright guy who later became a very successful film producer in Italy and a football club boss.

1970-1973  We had in those three years two more kids, Dino Jr. and Eloisa. Dino was a mama boy sweet and kind of introvert, Eloisa with my mother features delicate and warm. In contrast to Giada extrovert, outgoing and talkative.

With a bigger family we needed a bigger house. We moved to a house on the Appia Antica close to Veronica’s parents who, do to financial conditions, moved back to their previous house. Very nice but a lot smaller.

Dino in the meantime left DinoCitta do to deteriorating financial conditions and moved to a Villa/Office in the EUR area in Rome. He was by then planning to move to the US. Do to the uncertain situation and was also exploring other activities. One  was ahead of its time:  to import Subaru mini trucks to Italy.

But as usual with Dino, implementation was the weak link , as it was later with the DDL FOODSHOW. I went to Japan with no planning, support or any idea how to organize this new venture. The Nissho Iwai a Japanese trading company was the liaison with Subaru. We got few mini trucks to Italy but with the move to the US nothing came about.

1974 Even though some people warned me about Dino’s character traits  I decided to take the plunge. The one I recall specifically  Bruno Todini a veteran line producer for D. Telling me just few days before taking off for the US,  over lunch at his house on the Cassia , to watch my back and be very cautious in dealing with D.

Finally on Jan.74 we landed in NY. kind of fellinian arrival at JFK. 3 small kids, a nanny, 3 dogs and a big and very noisy Macaw with a mountain of luggage. After we cleared quarantine for dogs and parrot we headed to Fort Lauderdale. We didn’t have any accommodation in NY and we needed a bit of time to get accustomed to the US. So with help from Carletto Traglio we bought a house. Carlo was a wealthy italian businessman who first caught my attention for his famous Yacht Xarifa a landmark in the harbour of Monte Carlo. Among several businesses he had Faema. My first job was to sell freeze dried coffee Faemino to the Cuban community in Florida. The kids loved the climate, the pool, the ocean and sometime too enthusiastic they were picking up flowers from the neighbours with some mild rebuke for their action.

After six months we were ready for NY. Dino had offices at the G&W building on central Park West. Today  has become a Trump Hotel. G&W was the parent company of Paramount Pictures.

Dino had a good relationship with Charlie Bluhdorn then Chairman of G&W who helped Dino transitioning to the US.

Paramount distributed several films including  Valachi Papers ( Colombia 1972-Cost.$8M-B.O $17M- D’s answer to the Godfather),Serpico ( Prod.Cost$3M-B.O. 28M), Three Tough Guys (1974-BO Lira 800M) , Death Wish (Colombia/Paramoun1974Cost$4M-BO$22M. The picture made money but D. sold the rights to Filmways needing money) of the Charles Bronson series, Three days of the Condor( Paramount 1975 Cost$8M-B.O. $41M), Mandingo( Paramount 1975 no BO no figures), Drum (Sequel to Mndingo1976 Unite Artists-It was not as financially successful as the Mandingo) ,  Lipstick( Paramount 1976 B.O.8M), Amityville Horror(AIP 1979 B.O.86M),Face to Face( Paramount 1976 B.O.no figures), King Kong( Paramount 1976 Cost 25M- B.O. 90M), Orca( D. answer to Jaws-Paramount 1977-Cost 6M B.O.14.5M), The Shootist ( last John Wayne film-Paramount 1976 B.O. 13.5M), King of the Gypsies( Paramount 1978 B.O. 7.6M), Hurricane( Paramount 1979 Cost 22M B.O. 4.5M, Ragtime( Paramount 1981 Cost 28M B.O. 21M, Fighting Back ( Paramount 1982 Cost 9M B.O. 4.5M), The Dead Zone ( Paramount 1983 Cost 10M B.O. 20M, Serpent’s Eggs ( Paramount 1977 No figures , but lost money ), Blue Velvet (DEG 1986 Cost 6M B.O.8.5M, Tai-Pan( Delaurentiis Ent.Group-Cost $25M B.O.2M- [The Los Angeles Times‘ Kevin Thomas said, “anyone who enjoyed James Clavell’s epic novel of the early China traders can only wish that it had never arrived. So truly and consistently terrible is ‘Tai-Pan’ that it could stand as a textbook example of how not to adapt a historical adventure-romance into a movie.

(1974/1979)We settled down back in NY at 200 Central Park South. The apartment we rented was not big enough so Veronica and I got a small studio 10 floors down with a great look over Central Park.

I struggled with my relationship with Dino on the personal side. He only liked people who were compliant with his wishes. I was constantly looking to do something else. I bought a fixer-upper on Rodeo Dr. in the Beverly Hills flats right in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Great location with an history, had been previously owned by Maurice  Chevalier the great French entertainer.  The house was sold  in a probate so with the help of Joyce Rey the now legendary real estate agent I was able to  make my bid. Was right at the time of the fall of the Shah in Teheran and many exiled rich Persians were looking for properties. Lucky enough within a month I found one who loved the house and paid all in cash.  Related to this event I had 1/2 million in cash (more than $3M today) invested in Bank CD’s. in those days the inflation rate was around 13% so interests were pretty high.  Dino always needed money and ask me to lend the money to the company with the understanding of being reimbursed for the total amount in one shot. Instead with varies excuses the money was returned in small chunks over a period of time creating many problems. I realized then that Todini’s advice was very credible.

In those days Dino had many problems with a losing strip of films sold the Knoll and went back to NY. So we were kind out of the loop being in LA. I was more focused on finding low budget project since that was an area that the company was not covering much. My thinking was that were not a glamorous endeavour but profitable. At the time of Halloween II produced by John Carpenter I met Dan O’Bannon who had worked on Dark Star with John Carpenter. He had written the original Alien. The option on the screenplay was very low and I brought it to Dino. Unfortunately he turned it down saying that horror and science fiction didn’t work. Time later when the film became a great success ( Box Office $180 M.) Dino added insult to injury, told me ” you didn’t have Ridley Scott attached”. Well at the cost of $500 for the option that would have been difficult!

That was always Dino’s attitude a precursor of Trump’s era. For him people who disagree were or stupid, gay or on cocaine. That was the epithet one day for Barry Diller  while on the way to Barry’s house on Coldwater Canyon.

One thing I regret is not exploring Carlo Traglio offer to work with him in developing real estate in the US. Carlo was making  bridge loans to Dino’s company. He was a wealthy businessman the no nonsense type of Milan old school . He was doubtful about Dino and his persona. Carlo was certainly closer to my way of thinking. My grand father Umberto had the same type of character and co-founded with Alberto Garelli the well known mopped manufacturer Garelli Motors.

1980/89  The decade started with Igor’s birth and  followed tragically by Federico ‘s death. In an air crash in Alaska in the summer of 1981. He was filming a documentary on  the salmon run in Bristol Bay close to the town of Naknek. During the filming with a fix camera on the wing of the plane, they came out low from the flat  tundra towards the beach. Unfortunately they didn’t see another small plane taking off from the beach with 2 tons of freshly caught salmons. The two planes collided and all three died.  When I went to collect his remains I was told that the he was still moaning when they brought him out of the wreckage.   Never forget flying back to LA. On the Learjet the cockpit door was open and I could see this gigantic full moon and next to me Freddy in a body bag. Heart wrenching moment still very vivid in my mind today.

Freddy went on his own to make this documentary no real help from the company because Dino didn’t approve it. Having some financial help might have avoided the crash. He was a free spirit and quite independent from his father. That made him not very close to him. Opposite to Raffy more gregarious  and willing to accommodate differences. Certainly Freddy was more creative than Raffy.

Raffy after divorcing Gipi started working for Dino. during the preparation of Hurricane. Due to a lack of accommodations in Bora Bora Dino decided to build an hotel to house  the crew. The Marara. So Raffy was made in charge and I did the purchasing agent job to buy equipment and construction material. After the ending of filming Hurricane to take advantage of the equipment left over, she got involved in the production of Shark Boy. A small video kind of film. Shot locally in BoraBora and in Cozumel. After that Raffy was kept in charge of different productions. a line producer job more than a creative one. Most of her career have been  in the wake of Dino. Matter of fact after DEG collapsed she produced only few movies with mix fortunes and retired soon afterwards. Same applies to Martha Schumacher who disappeared from the movie scene after Dino’s passing. He was the only engine of the enterprise. Everybody else was merely living “di luce riflessa”.

Soon after returning from my trip to Alaska to get Federico. I got my close call. One afternoon after Motocrossing on the hills between the Valley and Palmdale, to close the day I went to try a brand new 4 wheeler Suzuki a gift from Veronica. Unwisely being quite hot I didn’t wear my helmet. At the first jump not familiar with the new machine I flipped backwards with the brake handle ending in my right eye. Being so close to the brain a lot of blood was gashing out and the eye was hanging in the mess.

But was not my time, luckily a jeep passing by offered much needed help. These were two brothers, one paraplegic going for the very first drive. Very nicely the driver accommodate the brother on the grass with Veronica and drove me to a fire station nearby. I always remember me apologizing for all the blood splashing in his new car, and him asking me if I was about to die. At the fire station they had an helicopter that got me to the hospital. Survived but still today my right eye is not in sync with the left.

On the business side I was  looking for projects and few deals. Fighting Back with Dino Conte shot in Philadelphia. Where with great pleasure I had the time during my daily jog to emulate Stallone in Rocky running up the stairs of the Museum of Art.  Another deal  connected me with Aurelio de Laurenttis who at the time was a young up and coming film producer. I sold him Hot Rock with Robert Redford that if I remember correctly was released in Italy by CineRiz.

On the home front I met Sam Raimi, Campbell and Tapert after seeing Evil Dead , shot in 16mm. and after reading raving reviews by Stephen King . Eventually became EvelDeadII and  started that cult series. Unfortunately my sequel rights were taken advantage of at the time of DEG bankruptcy

Another similar discovery was the super dark Eraserhead. A Kafkian intriguing story  by  David Lynch first movie. I remember showing the movie to Dino but the reaction was utterly negative. Although years later he picked him up as a director for a completely wrong  film- Dune. A big debacle Cost 45M BoxOffice 40M.

After Freddy’s death Dino decided to start a new business to get his mind away from the tragedy. DDLFoodShow was unveiled. A big store on Beverly Dr in Beverly Hills, on two floors. The store included a bar, a restaurant, a pizza wood burning oven and a big kitchen and a bakery. In the grandiose style Dino got chefs from Italy. Interior design Adam Tihany. As in the case of  the Subaru venture, implementation was the Achilles tendon of the new enterprise. The restaurant would have been the major source of revenue but was quite small because in Beverly Hills at that time was needed parking space for  footage over 1000 sq.  Super expensive endeavour. That was discovered after signing an expensive  10 years lease. The kitchen was at the first floor with a very heavy pizza oven. The engineering cost prohibitive. Even though had some success being the first of its kind and precursor of Eataly, didn’t make much money and basically a meagre return on the millions spent. A second DDL Foodshow opened in N.Y in proximity  to Zabar’s at that time grossing 12M a year. Remember Dino raving to beat them. The third location was at the just built Trump Tower at  the bottom of the waterfall. Comprising a small restaurant The Bistro and a vodka bar.

At the end like a bad movie the FoodShow was added to the other many flops.

In the mean time in 1984  with financing drying out Dino decided to create De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)through a public offering. Collected around 300M available to film production and was quoted on the American Stock Exchange. Bought a building on 8670 Wilshire BLVD in Beverly Hills as HQ. Built a studio in Wilmington North Carolina. Shortly after in 1986 to enable his own distribution acquired Embassy Communications from Coca-Cola. He even got a couple of options on two private jets a GII and a Falcon 50. Unfortunately the high flying venture took a nose dive do to a string of bad films . Including Raw Deal the only Schwarzenegger movie to lose money. In less than two years  DEG went into receivership and basically bankruptcy. Raffy was rapidly gone from head of production and Dino resigned as Chairman. Another episode was the Giancarlo Paretti sweeping story involving the total eco system in which D. was operating even to the far-flung political scene in Italy. Some of the bad actors were very familiar to Dino I don’t have any comments  since the links depict a pretty close panorama  of the real story. I would only add that the writing was on the wall. Dino rarely was in a position to have first look at projects from major talent agencies and was forced to get less desirable ones in turn-around . Raffy as head of production carries  a heavy responsibility and obviously Dino too for that demise. As I said in the beginning he was a great salesman but didn’t have that innate feeling for creativity, like Spielberg or Lucas, and also his personality traits finally caught up with him. The prolific amount of films  was motivated by financial survival being always on the brink of running out of money. Furthermore he was handicapped from Italian translation of scripts altering the feeling of the project.

Dino never recouped his old glory and after  made  only a handful of movies. On the personal side Silvana and Dino became more and more a part. He. took refuge from all his problems in the arms of Martha. Half his age. And for few years tried to relive his youth going to familiar places of his past and create a new family with children. Silvana was basically abandoned and she moved to Spain where she passed away in 1989. The classic saga of a deeply selfish character. One other consequence of  this debacle was a deterioration in my marriage.  Veronica had been stressed out by the fact of Dino’s preference for Raffy and indifference for her. I couldn’t grasp other reasons, after all she had her own Mercedes a comfortable life, her sisterlived cross the street, vacations in Santo Domingo where Dino had Casa Luna a very nice tropical house.    She smoked pot. One episode almost got us in trouble. One night a lady rang at the door in a mess asking for help, she got almost raped.  So we called the Police when they arrived they were standing just in front of the kitchen  open door  where was  a line of small marijuana plants  clearly visible. Lucky they didn’t notice. On my side the turmoil was creating a deterioration in my finances. All my eggs were in one basket and when the company collapsed was a real struggle. Veronica had as a best friend a future felon Patricia Green. I believe she was stimulating the increasing difficulties I had with Veronica.   After Igor’s birth she started gradually losing interest in the family, from small things like an empty fridge to be more and more assertive in becoming an entrepreneur to prove her metal.  To having an affair while visiting houses with a real estate agent Drew Mandile  .  In 1988 Veronica asked for separation. The situation was becoming more and more acrimonious. From Veronica’s flying glasses at my head, to sleeping separate, creating a paranoid environment,  taking my guns away to Raffy    to create  a false impression of danger.  Keeping in mind that I didn’t have any ammunition in the house and in more then a decade I used only once a 38 to kill a rattle snake found  in the garden and shot in the air once the shotgun in Alaska. A real terrifying gun owner. By the way one rifle, never used, was just bought as a social courtesy to John Milius a real gun lover. One day coming home from work I found the house empty, no children, no dog, no maid. Suddenly disappeared. Discovered later she moved to Dino.’s house. Obviously distraught I finally got a phone call from Giada. telling me that she  and Dino.jr , on their own volition had decided  to come back with me. So happy since I adored her.This is the Giada I have in my heart and  will carry with me  to eternity.

 In 1988 we sold the house and we moved to s rented one just few yards away. Why we did that I don’t know. Veronica wanted a new place we could hardly afford. Later she got to her own place with Igor and Eloisa.  Giada and Dino jr. were with  me. Since that particular house was quite expensive and we were only three  we moved nearby to a smaller house right in front to Raffy‘s

When Giada had reached driving age    I bought her a new Polo . At that point I was really struggling with my finances desperately trying to find projects to keep going. Veronica was in a rebel mood, her life was really a mess. Igor. was reflecting the tensions of the situation. I loved Igor very much and I felt real closeness to him. Some because looked a lot like  me and some because of the difficulties he was going through resembled my early life Veronica was very detached at that point. Igor  some time calling at midnight crying out asking to be picked up because he was left alone with a maid who didn’t speak English. So me rushing out to get him. One night on the way back to my house with Igor. I crossed her coming back from a night out with a young attorney in a  position ,as in the photo, clearly signalling the mission of the night.

No problem for the mission, but very unfair to a 8 years old in turmoil to be left with a person who couldn’t communicate with him. After they say mother knows best!

Clearly we were in a complete divorce  environment, with the worst tensions imaginable.

One day Giada was supposed to pick up Igor at a children party. While in the middle of a meeting I received a phone call from the mother organizing the festivity, saying that Igor was the only one left and was crying. Where was Giada? So I excused myself from a meeting and rushed to pick up Igor. That night when she came back I told her about my difficulties and I needed her to be reliable. We had a little discussion and at the end frustrated I told her if she couldn’t keep  her word to go back to her mother. My mistake I should have been more understanding because all of us were suffering the consequences of the situation. . So she didn’t take it well and went back to her mother new place.

Few days later I was accused of having molested Giada years before. This is the real story.

 Giada had a black friend at school (Marymount) of whom she was very fond of. I was concerned at the time that friendship would have ended up her to go to parties and possibly with the worst outcome to become pregnant. I have been always very open minded but in this case I was not. So  Veronica and I  decided  to have Giada on a pill just to prevent any surprise.

I was accused of having abused Giada with a so called ”foreign object” This is the stick: during a trip to the Cannes Film Festival I saw a picture “The Realm of the Senses” a strange Japanese picture depicting a masturbation with an egg. Trying to be funny in confronting the sensitive argument implying that sex was not the only solution I showed Giada a boiled egg. I surely regret the way I behaved, but the motivation was in my view then not a malign one.  Giada went regularly to the gynaecologist accompanied by her mother. No issues were ever found of any kind. Giada and I had always a great relation. Once she  really was a real trooper,  during an altercation between me and another driver Giada like a body guard introduced herself  between me and the other fellow like saying” hey! take it easy don’t mess with him” That  how strong and fearless Giada  was!!

At that point we were in a nasty divorce mood and Veronica was very nasty in her demeanour. Second  her family   was to say in a state of complete disarray.   Dino marrying a lady half his age and abandoning Silvana who gave him so much in her life. The incest scandal that came to light between Federico and Francesca The solution had to be me the scapegoat for all the skeletons in the closet.

The prosecution in the US is not an institution to establish the truth but only to find any way to get a conviction. More than 90% of criminal cases don’t go to trial. The Prosecution has normally overwhelming   resources compared to the defence including the Grand jury just a formal tool to indict . During which there is no defence lawyer but only the prosecution arguments. In the UK was abolished in 1933.

That’s why wealthy defenders have better results in criminal cases. Skilful criminal attorney cost millions of dollars. District attorneys in the US are elected official therefore political animals and chose the best way for them, whereas in Britain  lawyers are hired by the Crown to prosecute. The CPS decides to prosecute if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction. Not going in a fishing expedition just to convict without going to trial  and  simply piling up charges to force a plea bargain. Furthermore the American Judicial system is heavily influenced and distorted by the Executive branch of government. Federal Judges are appointed by the President so are the Supreme Court judges. State judges are usually appointed by the Governor. Therefore very little judicial independence. Whereas in England the original conception of judicial independence occurred in the Act of Settlement 1701 .

 My first choice of defence attorney was from a top Law Firm in LA but the attorney I picked was on a sabbatical, I was suggested another attorney Paul Catalano who proved  to be useless. He was not up to the task and I had the impression was working, for some reason, against me.  Is now barred from practising. I realized  the sorry state of my defence when I got a meeting with Gigi Gordon another attorney for a second opinion.

She was very surprised that my attorney didn’t use to counter balance the prosecution false accusations  the incest argument in Veronica’s family between her brother and her sister. Or either to emphasize that the gynecologist testified that Giada was well and sound and didn’t show any psychological or physical  problems during visits. At the end what really broke my heart was the threat to put Igor on the stand to show how bad a character I was  teaching him animal cruelty. Then I realized how vicious the whole thing had become. This is how it went with  the dog  . One Sunday while waiting in the garden to go to church with Igor nicely dressed, the new poppy came out of the creek all wet. The dog wanted to play with Igor, so I told  him  to get a stray broom to keep him at bay with the stray part of a broom so not to get all muddy. For the prosecution and Veronica this became an animal cruelty situation with me teaching to beat the dog. A complete mockery of the truth as everything else. I was then very close to Igor to see him maliciously used against me just crashed me. Catalano kept telling me that maximum sentence would have been between 1 year and 2. Since Judge David Thomas was the best I could have gotten. Well Judge Thomas  was only very lenient to famous  people. In Marlon Brandon’s son case he was appointed as a judge after Judge Perez was removed from the case for cutting bail from 10M to 2M. Christian Brando at the end got away with murder getting 10 years ( 5 years to serve) from Superior Court Judge Robert W. Thomas. This is how US criminal system works.  The most recent example  in 2019 the case of the actor Jussie Smollett who was charged by a Grand Jury with 16 felony counts and  then three weeks later the Prosecution and Judge Steven Watkins decided to drop all charges and seal all evidence. Or financier Jeff Epstein (just recently new charges have been filed) who  served 13 months with work release in 2008  for soliciting sex with an underage girls and so spending most of his term out of custody. Or BILL COSBY case where the PROSECUTION was caught manipulating the law to convict Cosby [ Why did the court overturn the conviction? Because prosecutors violated Mr. Cosby’s rights by reneging on an apparent promise not to charge him, the court majority ruled. … Mr. Cosby then sat for depositions in a separate lawsuit filed against him by Ms. Constand, which he paid her $3.38 million to settle in 2006] and later the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the case This is to show how sensitive are to accommodate well known people these judges are. And sometime very lenient, like in this case in Denver where a convicted rapist got 45 days

In Britain my case wouldn’t have ever been pursued since there was no evidence and was only my word against the prosecution.

I was emotionally crashed in seeing how my kids had been used , manipulated, couched  against me and how Giada had been weaponized Complete skulduggery!!  Financially I couldn’t get  a new lawyer after having already  been helped by my sister with  100 thousand dollars. Therefore following my attorney advise of a lenient treatment by the Judge , decided for  the Nolo Contendere. I took it on the chin paying a high price to get the kids out of this miserable catastrophe and save them from the relentless scrutiny the media would have done in case of trial.

Veronica for many years was quiet but when Giada got notoriety  with her TV show, she then had a problem. Afraid that the media would come up with the story and finding herself in a very precarious position under scrutiny and having people asking  where  was she  when the monster (me) was raging on?? Then the incest case. If you notice  Francesca is nowhere to be seen in Giada’s environment. So Veronica had to come up with a story and then the story of a  battered wife dominated by a frightening husband. Well in almost 20 years of marriage  if that would have been in any way true, how come no one received any complaint? Veronica was a free able and willing partner. When she found herself in a bind created the most vicious stories to save herself from all the fabricated narrative and manipulations skulduggery she was part of. Regarding her book my answer is simply – Just look at yourself in the mirror!!