A compelling true story following the stranger than fiction events of Giovanni Di Stefano’s .
Witness the highs and lows as he makes his journey in the face of adversity and personal struggles.
Don’t miss a riveting tale of determination, passion, and resilience.
Giovanni Di Stefano was born on July 1, 1955, atop a mountain in the small Italian village of Petrella Tifernina. A wise woman living nearby predicted that he would become either brainy and famous or would die quite soon; fortunately, the latter never occurred. Throughout his roller-coaster life, he has consistently failed to comply, instead doing what he believes is the correct thing to do.
Growing up as a working-class immigrant and forging a path toward a better life, he became the CEO of MGM. He survived war-torn conflicts in Yugoslavia and the Middle East, advised notorious dictators, and represented out-of-favour Presidents. Known as the Devil’s Advocate, he defeated the Crown in several landmark cases of the 20th century.
His gripping story, “The Man with the Golden Glasses,” will soon air, leaving viewers in awe of how one man achieved so much over three decades due to true determination and a keen eye for detail.
This movie opens the door into the unpredictable and exciting rollercoaster life of Giovanni Di Stefano who is known as the ‘Real’ Devil’s Advocate because of his influence and popularity in the international legal justice system. His intellectual brilliance has led to high profile convictions being overturned.
But who is the real Giovanni? Does anyone really know???
This untold insight into Giovanni’s world delves into the complexities of his character exploring various facets of his life.
The element of mystery, unexpected twists and turns makes for compelling viewing.
A Consultant from a large Insurance Company who was impressed with Giovannis letter in the Times contacted him arranging a meeting which they arranged for Wednesday, 17 March 1972, outside the Playboy Club. Obviously, Giovanni had lied about his age at the time, but later he found out he need not have bothered, as his age was already known.
They lunched together at the Dorchester Hotel, London, and Giovanni slightly overwhelmed by the way the conversation, who had started wondering where the meeting was going, as he had been under the impression that it was just about film finance. However, that was not to be – the so-called Consultant talked a little about the film industry before asking Giovanni more about himself! The Consultant was really a scout for a certain covert organisation, he had listened to how Giovanni came across and answered certain questions was impressed and decided Giovanni was one to have on side and made him an offer that took Giovanni totally by surprise.
Giovanni could not refuse if he was going to obtain his aspirations. So, it was on that day Giovanni’s life changed forever, and he did, in effect, sell his whole being in a contract similar to that of Dr Faustus. It was a decision Giovanni has never regretted to this day. His subsequent adventures would take him to every inch of the globe, sometimes having fun, sometimes experiencing pain and tragedy, questioning his very own existence—and so the journey began!
But that day
Giovanni Di Stefano
truly became someone.
Born in a small village in southern Italy, Giovanni relocated to England at the age of six with his mother to join his father who had found work there. Giovanni embarked on his educational journey in a state school, however, Giovanni had other ideas and was determined to enter the local esteemed public school. Through academic brilliance Giovanni achieved his goal for the last part of his education by securing a scholarship into the well sought after Wellingborough school, where he excelled in all subjects, also becoming the head student of music, drama, and sport.
During his school years Giovanni’s passion was drama and music. He wrote film scripts and songs orchestrating the music and forming a rock band ‘Chuck Wills Widow’. He won a slot on a TV show ‘Opportunity Knocks’ with his band, where he met other young aspiring musicians who later became famous.
One of Giovani’s favourite uncles, Zio Enzo, was the personal assistant to a rich and famous film producer in Hollywood, often visiting Italy where they filmed and through his uncle, Giovanni met the famous Ava Gardiner, whom Giovanni remained friends with until the day she died, also George C. Scott to name but a few.
From that first meeting at the age of eight, Giovanni harboured aspirations to one day be part of their world. His dream of becoming part of ‘their world ‘inspired Giovanni to write film scripts leading him to open his own production company ‘Select Pictures’ all before the age of 18. His determination to get one of his scripts produced inspired him to write a letter to the Times about how he was appalled that the UK banks would not finance the film industry. The letter was published early March in The Banker and a week later in The Times in 1972.
After various deployments over ten years, Giovanni’s achievements had been noted, and it was realized that he possessed a very precious gift having the gift to self-teach himself, developing a strong character by turning negativity into positive energy. Hence, in 1988, Giovanni’s ambitions and dreams were realized when he arrived in California.
Giovanni had been introduced to Paretti in 1987, who was impressed with his business acumen and Giovanni upon arriving at the Polo Lounge had an altercation with Paretti which resulted in a misunderstanding. They both socialised together afterwards in the Polo Lounge, and it was that very same day Paretti appointed Giovanni as Senior Executive Vice President to the Board of Pathe Communications Corp, making him second in charge only to Paretti himself. This led to the acquisition of MGM, where Giovanni was appointed CEO.
Giovanni was making a name for himself in the movie industry, but due to CLBN withdrawing credit facilities, he and his associates lost control of MGM at that time, for then.
Determined to protect his assets, Giovanni decided to travel to war-torn Yugoslavia and meet up with his old friend Arkan in Belgrade, whom he had befriended during a chance meeting in London.
Arkan welcomed Giovanni with open arms, seeing him not just as a friend but also as the best assistance amid the tense political situation in Yugoslavia. Arkan created a parliamentary group named the Serb Volunteer Guard (Arkan’s Tigers) and made Giovanni General of the SVG. Their shared passions extended beyond politics to football, and in 1996, they took over a second-division football team, FK Obilić. Giovanni, owner of Campobasso Calcio, brought his club to Belgrade along with TGS Sport TV Italia to attend an exhibition that became a grand celebration between the two football clubs.
In the early 1990s, then-President Milošević became aware of Giovanni’s business and political acumen. He soon befriended Giovanni and made him a close advisor. Giovanni took over a housing development project in Belgrade, under Milošević’s reign, consisting of over 30,000 houses and completed it to the highest standards. Milošević granted Giovanni Yugoslavian nationality and a passport, as he saw it as Giovanni’s right to be a citizen of Yugoslavia recognising him for all the hard work, he had done both legally and politically for the country.
Returning to Italy with his family in the late ’90s, he learned about John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer’s conviction in the UK for timeshare fraud and a £35 million confiscation order. Not forgetting Palmer’s kindness while on his honeymoon Giovanni’s legal knowledge advised Palmer on how he could help him avoid the £35 million confiscation leading Giovanni to represent van-Hoogstraten, Kenny Noye, Ian Strachan (Royal Blackmail), Ronnie Biggs, Patrick ‘Dutchy’ Holland, Linda Calvey, Jeremy Bamber to name but a few of the highest criminal fraternity internationally.
Giovanni was called to war-torn Iraq, where he witnessed horrific war crimes committed by the UK and US during the unjustified Iraqi conflict. He courageously named and shamed those responsible. He joined the legal team defending members of Saddam Hussein’s regime, including Tariq Aziz, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, and Chemical Ali, among others.
Giovanni assisted Boris Johnson when the police were about to charge him with stealing Tariq Aziz’s cigar case while representing the UK on official business in Iraq. Would Boris have become Mayor and Prime Minister of the UK if Giovanni hadn’t intervened on his behalf? No!
Giovanni orchestrated and wrote music, bought football clubs, and wrote scripts. How did he find the time to do all this while defending the indefensible and advising in war zones? Discover his incredible journey in the amazing roller-coaster movie of Giovanni Di Stefano’s life to date.
Contact: info@opcglobalinproduction.com
“Giovanni is a person of strong character who turns negativity into a positive energy setting himself in a good direction!”
31 May 2002 – ITN ENGLAND: London: INTERVIEW: Giovanni Di Stefano (Jeremy Bamber’s lawyer) interviewed: –
“Prison service & prison staff are undermanned, underpaid, under-rated, underdeveloped – it’s something Secretary of State needs to pay attention to – Not enough prison officers, not paid properly, not being trained.”
Source: Getty Images
