Extremely prolific producer, regarded as "the father of the Italian film industry". A former optician with an interest in photographic equipment, he co-founded the first Italian motion picture studio in 1904, in Turin. He was invited by
Tsar Nicholas II to create a Russian film industry in 1911. In 1912 he procured exclusive rights to filming the works of
Gabriele D'Annunzio. Famous for Italian epic movies during the 1920s, which rivaled those of Hollywood.