Emanuele Farneti
A director who leaves his mark
Young director of Men's Health, he revealed his many expertises
leaving profound marks in Italian journalism.
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A day in the pursuit of...
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The young director never
misses responding to his readers and associates daily. Bolstered by
twelve affiliated and motivated writers, he is aware of the
responsibilities that the leading Italian publishing house put in
his hands.
And it is for this reason he meticulously combines his public's
needs, international incentives and writers and photographers'
potential in actively contributing in making Men's Health a leading
service magazine. And perhaps this is why he never leaves work in
the office. Emanuele Farneti spends his mornings in the newsroom,
meets his efficient secretary who updates him on the day's schedule
and then dives into reading the mail.
Phone calls repeatedly interrupt a man busy launching new
trends.
He has been at the head of the magazine for less than a year and
his restyling is paraded in front of readers, fans and
investors.
The magazine is a success, but its growing popularity brings in
more work. His day is entirely spent in the multi-functional
offices where he works, takes breaks in the park and drinks coffee
with his associates.
And after meetings and hours spent organising, correcting and
editing the new issue, he turns off the lights to enjoy the
"pleasures of being a man". |
Emanuele Farneti, Men's Health director |
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Marks of a magazine director
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Five years from the birth
of Men's Health, new graphics, new columns and a few adjustments to
the formula accentuate the magazine's core style: fitness,
nutrition, health and sex. The publisher's goal for the men's
magazine published in joint venture between Mondadori and the
American Rodale Press is to regain distribution leadership after
falling behind Fox Uomo (according to latest ADS data, the two
magazines sell 186 and 209 thousand copies respectively) and
consolidate an advertising trend defined more than satisfactory in
1Q this year. Emanuele Farneti was called to direct it last
December. With a degree in law and thesis on penal rights in legal
news, at the young age of 30 he led leading Italian Men's
magazines. Starting in July 2004, he directed Sport Week, the
illustrated supplement to the Gazzetta dello Sport, following his
career debut in GQ where he rose from columnist to assistant
publisher in just 4 short years.
After an initial stint with Men's Health as editor in chief, he
landed a position at the Gazzetta dello Sport as football editor
and, in July 2004, won the "Ischia" prize in the young talent
category. He approached the world of journalism as a young student,
discovering the secrets of the profession assisting excellent
masters.
He focused on different themes, always demonstrating a certain
expertise in sport which he considers a unifying moment, essential
to refining social trends and keeping the body in shape. Now,
however, a new outlook is on the horizon: health and daily life
"because a man is identified by his physical fitness". |
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The mark of writing
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He has always written.
And this gesture has always represented the true essence of
communication for him: a service tool that must inform. Surely this
is an key concept in the world of journalism. His writing is
concise, without frills, but lively and determined. A column by
Emanuele Farneti reveals fundamental rules, like those of a screen
writer: presentation of the characters, theme contextualisation,
bonds and ties, communicative and moral quid with unexpected turns
of events. All spiced with different levels of reading, to be able
to consult, analyse, interact and respond.
The director Farneti's writing is made of pure service. His e-mail
correspondence is intense, using this tool that brings people
together in an era when maximising time and information is of the
utmost importance: And each contact is afforded his utmost
attention. There are not many traces of his graphical mark, except
for the draft corrections that reveal a determined, dry and
communicative aspect, exclusively aimed to provide precise and
unquestionable information.
Strictly circled and in black ink. And if he needs to speak with
his dear ones, he still uses paper and pen....brief signals, but
highly expressive... |
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Chiara Zocchi
The young markings of multimedia writing
A young revelation with "Olga", the multi-task writer weaves
sounds, colours, words and essential incentives for thought… from a
small Swiss valley.
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A day in the pursuit of...
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… entering the life of
Chiara Zocchi for a day means enjoying here serenity, the silence
of this secluded Swiss valley, the true creative spirit that
invades the house.
She writes better in the morning and at night. She doesn't read
newspapers except for the Corriere del Ticino to at least catch up
on local happenings. She doesn't want to be defined a journalist,
despite her work for Rolling Stones and other Italian magazines,
because she's still tied to the concept of pure information supra
partes.
The computer is the only tool she uses to write books, articles,
plays or songs: "Olga" was the result of her family's first
computer… "My best friends are Pessoa, Molière, Moravia, Canetti,
Alda Merini, Emily Dickinson, Marguerite Duras... and many others.
I sleep with them in my small home. That way I never feel lonely."
Chiara is not a socialite: you can barely see her at social events,
even when she stars at a recital on the night of St. Lawrence,
delighting guests with her voice in songs like " India"… returning
home to pass the time cooking, cleaning, ironing… which can all be
laid aside in her nest to practice the arrangement of that
unconvincing piece with Zeno… |
 Chiara Zocchi |
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Marks of a multi-task writer
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Classical studies,
university courses in communications, masters studies with a
Parisian hint that reflect her extensive experience as a writer,
author, opinionist and organiser of literary events.
Chiara Zocchi experiences writing as part of everything that falls
under a philosophy of silence, solitude, respect and hours and
hours of reading… the only ones that fill her rich and working
days.
So much creativity obviously had an important imprinting: that of a
family of pharmacists who treat others with chemistry. She took her
soul and young anguish to hear with a more human therapy: writing…
that, like reading, she never abandons: "Everything. I read words,
Music, Silence, Noise, Images, Nature, The smell of the air. I
always read. I live reading. I can't live without the words of
Fernando Pessoa or the voice of Carmen Consoli or how Eric Satie
touches music or without a child who smiles at me without
thinking".
One of the multiple creatures Chiara is most dedicated to is "Tre
voli", her upcoming book, published by Garzanti, which will be
presented with a play in September at the Milan Filo-drammatici. It
is the stage performance (sound and visual) of the world
surrounding the book. It is a sort of living book whose script is
made up of parts of the book and songs written by the author in the
same period. The scenery will be made up of projected words,
sentences and images while the costumes will be two-dimensional,
made of paper. All narrated (Guia Zapponi narrator), sung (Chiara
Zocchi, vocals) and musically performed live, with an
electro-acoustic ensemble: electric violin (Giuliana Altamura),
electro-acoustic violoncello (Zeno Gabaglio), guitars (Chiara
Zocchi and Dario Brunori). |
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The mark of writing
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| Thanks to the faith the
Garzanti publishing house entrusted to the young talent in 1996,
her first novel "Olga" won the "Fiuggi" prize, the "Rapallo" prize
for first work and the "Costantino Pavan" prize and was translated
in nine languages. Chiara never forgets that "when I felt a small
pain in my stomach, that I later called sensitivity, I tried to
treat it by myself. Logo therapy, the therapy of words, made me
feel better. And my book, for me, is not unlike what my parents
sell. It does not come in a box with instructions and warnings. But
it made me feel better. All books are medicine, but no one can
identify their ingredients. They are first aid. The ones that some,
whispering, called magic". Writing is a mark that Chiara discovered
in the past. Not hers, but the one of the great masters that
brought her up. Her expressive form explicitly takes from Pessoa,
Sanguineti, Quenau. And looking at the dozens of translated copies
of her "Olga", her gaze stops on the Japanese one, caressing the
distinctive marks of another culture… that reads backwards. She
doesn't write focusing on how communications can persuade, but on
the expression that frees her from daily pain and brings a bit of
serenity and thought to readers… playing with creative writing
techniques. |
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