After graduating from Pareto college, Gianni began his career working at
Dick Randall, a
Hong Kong-based foreign sales company, known for distributing
Bruce Le,
Bruce Li and also the very first
Jackie Chan movies. Soon after the death of his father, he joined
Mario Cecchi Gori and his son, Vittorio, to export their commercial Italian feature films.
Cecchi Gori Pictures At age 25, Nunnari moved to Hollywood to expand the market horizon and product slate for Cecchi Gori Pictures and to distribute European films for the US market. In 1991, Cecchi Gori produced
Mediterraneo, which Nunnari and Cecchi Gori sold to Miramax before becoming a hit in the United States. It was subsequently awarded the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Next, Nunnari convinced his friend
Massimo Troisi, a Neapolitan film star primarily known for his peculiar comedic approach in film, to direct and star in
Il Postino (1994). The film became the final motion picture in Troisi's career, as the star and director suffered a fatal heart attack the day after production wrapped. The critically acclaimed film was released posthumously and was nominated for five
Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, winning one for its musical score. Nunnari's most notable success in producing foreign films for the US market was
Life Is Beautiful (1998), directed by and starring
Roberto Benigni. Nunnari orchestrated the distribution of the film worldwide, and it went on to win multiple awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Original Score. It returned over $25 million for Cecchi Gori, in addition to recouping the initial approximately $6 million production investment. Nunnari was then appointed to oversee Penta Films, alongside Cecchi Gori and
Silvio Berlusconi, to produce Hollywood commercial movies in the style of the Cecchi Gori films. Following his accomplishments in production, Nunnari expanded his business knowledge into entrepreneurial efforts, opening the popular Los Angeles restaurant Ago; among the restaurant's partners are Meir Teper, co-owner of the acclaimed Nobu chain, and
Robert De Niro.
Independent producer As an independent producer of motion pictures, Nunnari produced the hit film
Se7en, which would take in over $327 million worldwide, and
From Dusk till Dawn, starring
George Clooney and
Quentin Tarantino for
Miramax. It was Clooney's first starring role on the big screen and became an instant success and a cult classic. In more recent years, Nunnari has produced several films for director
Martin Scorsese, including
The Departed, which would win Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director,
Shutter Island, which starred
Leonardo DiCaprio and earned nearly $300 million worldwide, and
Silence, which received rave reviews and the AFI ranked as one of its ten Movies of the Year.
Hollywood Gang Productions In the late 1990s, Nunnari founded the production company Hollywood Gang Productions. The company produced big-budget commercial spots, becoming one of the pioneers in using big Hollywood stars, such as Oscar-winners Robert De Niro and director
Giuseppe Tornatore (
Cinema Paradiso). Segueing into feature film production, Nunnari and Hollywood Gang produced the feature film
300 (2007), directed by
Zack Snyder, starring
Gerard Butler, and based on the graphic novel by
Frank Miller. The film took in over $700 million worldwide. Nunnari built the IP into a franchise with the sequel
300: Rise of an Empire (2014), starring
Eva Green,
Lena Headey, and
Rodrigo Santoro. The company also produced
Everybody’s Fine (2009), starring
Robert De Niro,
Kate Beckinsale,
Sam Rockwell and
Drew Barrymore,
Immortals (2011), starring
Henry Cavill, and most recently,
The Domestics, starring
Kate Bosworth and
Tyler Hoechlin, which became one of the first pictures produced under the revived
Orion Pictures label. In 2016, Hollywood Gang produced its first television series,
StartUp (2016), released by Sony's streaming services
Crackle, executive produced by Nunnari. In 2024, Nunnari produced
Those About to Die, a
Peacock-hit gladiator miniseries initiated by Centropolis, Street Entertainment, and Hollywood Gang. The show is based on the book
Those About to Die by
Daniel P. Mannix, to which Hollywood Gang acquired the rights. The limited series, written by
Robert Rodat and directed by
Roland Emmerich and
Marco Kreuzpaintner, boasts a cast that includes actors of the caliber of
Anthony Hopkins and
Iwan Rheon and a budget of $140 million.
Euro Gang Entertainment In August 2023, Nunnari co-founded Euro Gang Entertainment, affiliated with Hollywood Gang Productions, together with Simon Horsman. Created to act as a bridge between Europe and Hollywood, Euro Gang Entertainment is a production studio focused on developing, financing, and producing television series, feature films, and documentaries, as well as stage plays and live events. Headquartered in
Los Angeles, the company has an additional office in
Rome. In 2024, Nunnari and Horsman produced a documentary about chef, restaurateur and hotelier
Nobu Matsuhisa, directed by
Matt Tyrnauer (Victoria's Secret: Angels and Demons), co-produced with Altimeter Films, WMG Productions, Los Angeles Media Fund and AGC Studios. The co-CEOs also produced the play
Shit. Meet. Fan, a comedy-drama written and directed by
Robert O'Hara, based on the 2016 Italian film
Perfect Strangers, directed by
Paolo Genovese. The show, co-produced by the
MCC Theater OFF_Broadway, premiered on October 10, 2024, at
The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space and was an immediate success. == Producing credits ==