JULY 28
Biography
The Jackal is an artistic group and a video production company, whose members are between twenty and thirty years old. Among other things, they have realised Youtube videos, commercials for major brands (Huawei, Leerdammer, Ford, Milka, Sony, Banca Intesa, Sky Online, 20th Century Fox), a short film on Naples, in which the city looks like a living postcard (Napoli in 4K, co-produced with Fanpage.it) and the so-called Trilogia della Frittura (Frying Trilogy), a spoof in three episodes entitled “The effects of Gomorrah on people #1, #2 and #3”, in which, among others, actor Salvatore Esposito and writer Roberto Saviano appear.
The Jackal started their activity at a very young age. The three founding members, Francesco Ebbasta (director and editor), Simone Ruzzo (actor and CEO of the company) and Alfredo Felco (post-production), met at school. Simone Ruzzo and Ciro Priello (actor and casting director) have been friends since kindergarten. With time (and, above all, determination), they made their dream come true and were joined by other videomaking professionals.
They are young, they have passion, they have talent. There is no undeniable sign of schools or academies in their work; they are all, or almost all, self-taught. They have been doing this since they were very young and attended middle school. You could say it's almost in their bones. Over time, they moved from YouTube (which they used to approach the general public) to other media. They achieved success with Lost in Google, the first Italian interactive web-series. They have made spoof and subtle satire their trademark. In addition to this kind of work, they also collaborated with Save the Children, developed the format "Questions to the Children", and achieved almost 50 million views on their YouTube channel (“The effects of Gomorrah on people” alone received over 10 million views).
Of course, cinema is one of their dreams. However, they have a new, more competitive idea of entertainment. They aim for innovation, and they do so while maintaining a high standard of quality. Proof of this is one of their short films, The Parker, an action film that winks at Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns and great cinema classics such as Jurassic Park, in which they put together a large crew and used state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Or the short film 30 anni, in which they recount, with Max Pezzali as special guest, the "trauma" of growing old and knowing how to accept oneself for what one becomes as time goes by. Over the years, their productions have featured many musical guests, including Luis Fonsi, Negramaro, Malika Ayane and Tommaso Paradiso.
Napoli in 4K is another example of their constant desire for experimentation: indeed, it was the first Italian work that used the ultra-high definition in 4K, which arrived in Italian cinemas only a few months earlier, for a web product.
However, the Jackal are primarily young people. While their schoolmates were playing football, they would 'film' (at first on VHS, then digitally), as they like to say. They have always looked at cinema as an example. They have managed to turn their greatest passion into a successful job. This is demonstrated by the commissions they receive every day by and the excellent collaborations they have been involved in, such as those with DMAX, MTV, Giulia Innocenzi's Announo and RAI's online platform Ray.it.
In 2017, their first film, "Addio fottuti musi verdi", directed by Francesco Ebbasta, produced by Cattleya and the Jackal and distributed by 01 Distribution, was released in cinemas.
In 2018, they amazed Italian audiences with "Operazione Sanremo", in which the Jackal managed to involve hosts, singers and guests of the Sanremo Music Festival and become protagonists of the event (without ever appearing on stage), also thanks to their catchphrase "gnigni" and a video that immediately became a cult hit.
In December of the same year, they collaborated with Sky on ''Operazione X Factor'', which captivated the Sky Uno talent show. Along with the four jackals Ciro, Fru, Simone and Fabio, the video of "Operazione X Factor" involved many stars from the world of entertainment, such as chef Alessandro Borghese, Maccio Capatonda, Antonino Cannavacciuolo, Luca Ward, Giuliano Sangiorgi, Pupo and the X Factor judges, who took up the appeal of the catchphrase "Mimicchio": it was a success with over 20 million views and 68 million users reached on all channels. Together with Sky, in January 2019 the Jackal also launched the video "Ogni volta che cucini male", starring Masterchef judges Antonino Cannavacciuolo, Bruno Barbieri, Giorgio Locatelli and Joe Bastianich.
In April 2020, during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 health emergency, The Jackal landed on RaiPlay with their original product "Tanto non uscivo lo stesso" (exclusively for Rai's digital platform), in which Ciro, Fabio, Aurora, Fru and the rest of the Neapolitan ensemble ironically recounted the behaviours and dynamics that Italians share within their homes.
In December, The Jackal were on Sky Uno with "The Jackal replay - Tutto il buono di X Factor", a weekly appointment dedicated to the talent competition “X Factor”, aired before the live shows.
Fabio Balsamo and Ciro Priello were among the stars of Massimo Ranieri's show "Qui e adesso", broadcast on Rai3 in prime time. The same month also saw the announcement of two new projects for 2021, which saw the Neapolitan group involved in "Lol: Chi ride è fuori", a comedy show on Amazon Prime Video, and the series "Generazione 56k" on Netflix.
In March, they starred in Spotify's first original production for Italy, a podcast dedicated to the Sanremo Music Festival entitled "The Jackal: Tutto Sanremo, ma dura meno".
The Netflix series in collaboration with The Jackal "Generazione 56k", starring Fabio Balsamo, Gianluca Fru and created and directed by Francesco Ebbasta, reached number 1 in the ranking of the most viewed shows on Netflix.
On the occasion of the European Football Championship 2021, they hosted the original format "Europei a casa The Jackal" on Rai Play, in which they comment live on the matches of the Italian national team with their usual humour.