A veteran international producer, Gabriella Martinelli has produced films in China, France, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom, Hungary, Nepal, Jamaica, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Best known for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes, she founded Toronto based Capri Films and Capri Releasing in 2001.  In 2012 she established, Martinelli Films, a boutique production company with a focus on projects with social and environmental relevance and influence.

Through Capri Films, Gabriella produced multiple Canada/Italy co-productions including; Between Strangers starring Sophia Loren, Pete Postlethwaite, Gerard Depardieu, and Malcolm McDowell; the mini-series Lives of the Saints starring Sophia Loren, Kris Kristofferson, and Jessica Paré; and Karol, The Pope, The Man, a four-part mini-series on the life of Pope John Paul II, with CBC (Canada) and Mediaset (Italy).

Gabriella’s executive producer credits include Ben Wheatley’s dystopian drama, High Rise, based on J.G. Ballard’s novel, starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, and Sienna Miller produced by Jeremy Thomas. Her co-producing credits with Jeremy Thomas and The Recorded Picture Company include: Terry Gilliam’s Tideland starring Jeff Bridges; Dead Ringers starring Jeremy Irons; and Naked Lunch starring Peter Weller.

Gabriella’s producing credits also include David Cronenberg’s M Butterfly; Warner Bros’ The Amazing Panda Adventure; Clive Barker’s The Nightbreed, Renegades starring Keifer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips; Gordon Pinsent’s John and The Missus; After the Ball, starring Portia Doubleday and Chris Noth, and the rock ‘n’roll vampire comedy, Suck, starring Jessica Paré, Malcolm McDowell, Iggy Pop, and Alice Cooper.

Her feature documentaries include Marion Woodman: Dancing In The Flames, chronicling the life of renowned author and Jungian analyst Marion Woodman; Vincenzo Natali’s Getting Gilliam, exploring the creative methodology of genius director, Terry Gilliam.   Her film, Spirit of Tibet: The Journey To Enlightenment, documents the life, death and rebirth of the revered, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche – primary teacher to the Dalai Lama.  Directed by French Buddhist monk Mathieu Ricard (profiled in TIME magazine as “The Happiest Man in the World”) with narration by Richard Gere and music by Philip Glass. This collaborative effort raised thousands for the restoration of the The Shechen Monasteries in Nepal and Tibet.

Career highlights include producing, Discovery, the large-format film for British Columbia’s Expo ’86, shot in the “Showscan” 70 mm format at 60 frame/sec, with special effects by master Douglas Trumbull and Star Wars illustrator, Ralph McQuarrie, and the theatrical production, Scaramouche Jones, with dear friend, Pete Postlethwaite, declared by Steven Spielberg, “the best actor in the world.”

Gabriella served on the board of The Academy of Canadian Cinema, is a founding member of Reel Canada: Our Films in Our Schools and served two consecutive terms on the boards of Women in Film and The Toronto Film Board.