Venice Film Festival 2026: B2B merch for productions, distributors and sales agents

Merchandising for productions and distributors on the Lido

Dates

27 August – 6 September 2026

Venue

Palazzo del Cinema, Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi 94, 30126 Lido di Venice, Italy

The International Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world, organised by La Biennale di Venezia — Cinema Department — under the presidency of Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and the artistic direction of Alberto Barbera, and held every year between late August and early September on the Lido in Venice. The festival is structured around an Official Competition, the Out of Competition, Horizons, Horizons Extra and Biennale College Cinema sections, plus a programme of special screenings, retrospectives and side initiatives that involves directors, actors, producers, distributors, sales agents, journalists and international buyers. The event opens the European autumn festival season and concentrates on the Lido the world of cinema and audiovisual, with a unique density of talent, distributors, institutions and specialised audiences.

From the Milan hub, Corp-Merch.IT coordinates the merch programme for Italian and international productions, distribution companies, sales agents and press offices taking part in the Mostra: graphic adaptation in pre-production (including welcome bags for cast, which often need the coordinated presence of multiple brands), selection of makers in keeping with the editorial positioning (Como for textiles, Scandicci for leather, Vigevano for small leather goods, Maniago for metalwork, Murano for glass, Feltre for technical paper), physical pre-production samples for numbered kits aimed at the press, and a structured response within 48 working hours of the brief. For editorial materials and the welcome bags for talent and press we work with partners specialised in climate-controlled transport, so that books, screenplays, posters and editorial merchandise keep their condition even during the waiting phases at temporary warehouses. Invoicing for Italian VAT-registered buyers goes through the Italian Sistema di Interscambio (SdI) in EUR with 22% VAT; reduced 10% VAT applies to editorial materials, 5% to books under Italian VAT rules. Reverse charge for intra-EU buyers, split payment for public bodies.

The Mostra calendar sits between Locarno (August) and Toronto (September), and the Lido concentrates a network of historic hotels, temporary production offices and hospitality spaces rented by the majors and by international sales agents. Direct deliveries to the Palazzo del Cinema and to the satellite venues must be aligned with the access passes issued by the Cinema Department of La Biennale di Venezia and with the logistics plan published for participants; a buffer in a Venice hotel or at our Milan hub lowers the risk of an off-window delivery. For productions with multiple operational sites (Palazzo del Cinema, projection hotel, press room, interview terrace) we prepare separate packing lists for each destination with dedicated labelling of the on-site contact.

Production and logistics towards the Lido in Venice

Confirm artwork, quantities, packaging and on-site recipient before launching production. The Palazzo del Cinema, the halls at the Casinò and the other satellite venues of the Mostra are subject to very strict vehicle-access rules; the courier access passes are nominal and issued by the Cinema Department of La Biennale di Venezia. Loading windows must be cross-checked with the official calendar of the festival and the logistics plan published for participants. For talent kits and numbered welcome bags specific packing rules apply: single-piece wrapping, label per recipient, dedicated packing list and, on request, alignment with the talent schedule (hotel delivery, room delivery or red-carpet delivery).

For an Italian programme routed via Milan, shipments are consolidated at the hub and forwarded with BRT, SDA, GLS or DHL Express Italia over 24 hours across most Italian postcodes. For deliveries to the Lido we typically propose a primary address at a hotel affiliated with the festival, a nearby warehouse at Tronchetto or Marghera, and a second delivery direct to the Palazzo del Cinema within the official set-up window, once the Cinema Department has confirmed recipient, gate and pass. Goods travel with DDT, packing list and origin declaration; for clients in scope of CSRD (D.Lgs. 125/2024) we include a Scope 3 CO₂e sheet under the GHG Protocol on the Milan–Venice leg and on the provenances from the named districts, aligned with ESRS E1 and S2.

Frequently asked questions