Via Veneto Productions, Inc. was founded in 2009 by publicist/writer
Joseph Malgarini with his nephew, actor
Ryan Malgarini(
Freaky Friday (2003)). The company name refers both to the Veneto region of Northern Italy from which his paternal Great-Grandparents immigrated to the United States, as well as the famous street in Rome, Italy, immortalized in
Federico Fellini's classic film
La Dolce Vita (1960), noteworthy during the 1960's for its upscale cafés, hotels and shops, and the celebrity clientele who frequented them. (The terms "paparazzo" and "paparazzi" also originated in the popular lexicon from Fellini's masterpiece, after the name of a photographer character who snaps tabloid photos of movie stars.).