Posted in: Conventions, Events, Games, Interview, Lucca Comics & Games | Tagged: Emanuele Vietina, Luccaa Comics & Games 2023

Interview: Emanuele Vietina Chats About Lucca Comics & Games 2023

Before Lucca Comics & Games 2023 begins on November 1 in Italy, we chat with festival director Emanuele Vietina about this year's events.

In the small town of Lucca, Italy, the city is preparing to host the second biggest convention in Europe, as Lucca Comics & Games 2023 will kick off this Wednesday. The event has been running since 1965, and during that time, it has gone from a comic book convention in the center of the city to taking over the entire town and literally turning the place into a massive convention behind city walls. This year, the event celebrates the 30th Anniversary of when they incorporated the formerly separately run gaming event into the main one to make it Comics & Games, and with it comes a number of highlights, including a special celebration of Magic: The Gathering's 30th Anniversary, as well as having Joe Manganiello show off his new D&D documentary. But before all of that starts on November 1, we had a chance to chat once again with the event's director, Emanuele Vietina, about this year's events and what he's looking forward to this time around.

BC: Hey, Emanuele! First thing, how have you been since we last spoke?

EV: Hi Gavin, it's a great pleasure to be in touch with you. How have I been? Under pressure through weeks of super intense work. We are now about to open another exhibition dedicated to Tolkien, Games, and Comics, so I am very excited and… full of work!

The last time we hung out together was at Lucca 2022, you were receiving a grant from the local government to help with this year's event. How has it been working with officials to help Lucca C&G not only sustain but thrive?

The last time we saw each other, during the press conference, we started a program with the region of Tuscany, and the program is up and running slowly but substantially. This year, they started supporting a larger involvement of international journalists. Our plan is to start a full program, including a visit to Tuscany, the region where Assassin's Creed 2 was created and where Twilight was filmed. We would like to give international journalists that come to Lucca Comics & Games a full vision of Tuscany.

What were some of the big takeaways for you as an organizer from last year that you wanted to improve on?

Last year we learned a lot of things; one of the most important has been to create a proper venue for esports content, so we decided to move the e-sport cathedral, the venue for 400 people hosted in a baroque 17th-century cathedral, to the Lucca Esports Dome a venue for 1500 people. The red carpet was nice, so we are now improving it, and we are also launching an app created by fans from our community. This app is community-driven as letting people come into the organization bringing their own value is the very best choice. At the moment, more than 30,000 unique users have downloaded the app and use it to book events, see news, and connect. This is important because people need to be guided in such a complex environment as our historical center.

You have a number of events taking place this year. What are three that you are looking forward to experiencing as a fan?

Only three events? The [Joe] Manganiello game session in the Giglio Theatre will be a blast. The cosplay gathering with Jim Lee, president of DC Comics, and all the characters too. The Esports Dome will be one of the greatest attractions. For old gamers, I would recommend the exhibition dedicated to Tolkien and Games and the meetings with Pete Fenlon, the man behind Iron Crown Enterprises. Magic: The Gathering is also great. And don't forget Karl Kopinski is back this year.

Last year, I saw a lot of expansion in TV and film, especially with companies like Disney, Netflix, and Amazon. How has it been expanding those areas for attendees to check out and work with those entities?

We try to work with these big entities with a nice approach in terms of management. Our approach is the dungeon master approach. We propose our dungeon, the town of Lucca, select together a place that is meaningful and that can help them express their content and their value and, from the other end, create a unique experience in which the visitors can express themselves. So, expanding TV shows and films means to be well-focused, to bring the red carpet, which is important for this industry and not usually done in comic conventions, and having them come into our playground accepting our rules, which basically means to let people be the show. It has been worth it.

This year has had a bigger expansion into esports. How has it been for you to bring more European-based leagues in to hold special events as part of their tournament schedule?

We have been working together with League of Legends since 2013. League of Legends is celebrating their 10th anniversary at Lucca Comics & Games with a very new program. We are working with Riot Games to create something that is regional based that can involve European pro gamers and visitors. Our idea for Lucca is to merge e-sports with the rest of the creating industries. It's a way to touch the base of an EMEA program and to involve larger and larger tournaments and, if I may, larger and larger companies involved not only in e-sports but in video games in general. Our experience with CD Projekt Red last year showed that we can give a lot to these kinds of companies with a new perspective.

I noticed that the event likes to integrate local culture as much as possible to educate people about the city and Italy in general. What's the response been like from attendees in that respect?

Respect is definitely the right word. We have five values: community, inclusion in terms of diversity but also different media, Discovery which means to always propose something new to our audience, and gratitude because the authors and the artists need to be grateful to the audience, as well as the audience, needs to be grateful to the dreammakers. Respect is the fifth value, the dark green in our value flag, which is important because thousands of people come to Lucca for five days, and we need to be respectful of our monumental heritage. For us, integrating local culture is important. Lucca is a different kind of event. We don't like to refer to ourselves as a consumer show or a convention; we like to refer to ourselves as a community event in which contemporary mythologies can match with Italian monumental heritage and the Renaissance. The Renaissance can enhance the power of modern mythologies, and modern mythologies can bring added value and feelings to our monuments in a beautiful, enhancing relationship. Gamers, geeks, nerds, and comic addicts are educated people, and our community can come to Lucca and educate the rest of the world because the way they live Lucca is an example of a new kind of citizenship.

A lot of people I talk to about the event don't understand that you basically take over the whole city for the convention. What would you say is the biggest challenge for Lucca C&G these days when it comes to running the event? And how do you manage to work with it every year?

This is a big question. Every year, we work to improve safety and security. Our organization is not alone; all the institutions and authorities work with us in safety and security management, and the whole town opens itself, and organizes itself to manage the large amount of people that come to Lucca Comics & Games. Our idea is to manage all the people that come to Lucca and to grow in terms of content, international visibility, and international content. I believe we are one of the greatest shows in the world, and it's not easy to understand Lucca Comics & Games if you don't come to see the show during the five days it happens.

What are your thoughts going into 2023 now that you have everything locked down and ready to go?

I am super excited and can't wait to start. Nevertheless, probably everything will be locked down at the end; it will be finished only at the end. We will lock down everything day by day and be ready to manage a great event with the help of our community.

Do you have any other thoughts on your mind or things you'd like to say before November 1?

We will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Lucca Games, our games section. Lucca Games changed forever the perception of the show, the idea, and our way of doing a comics and games festival because the start of the Games section in 1993 helped us understand that the show had to place the experience of the participants at the very center. Lucca is a place to be not only a place to do something. We are waiting for you on the first of November, to be together, to live emotions together, and to enjoy together Lucca Comics & Games 2023.

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