Prime Video has been on a YA tear with the Culpables movies and Maxton Hall – and is now placing an international bet on Italian project Love Me, Love Me. Speaking at Series Mania, Nicole Morganti, Head of Originals, Southern Europe at Amazon Studios said: “Right now we are shooting Love Me, Love Me, which is an IP from Stefania S. It’s really a movie that can resonate with a global audience.”

The film an adaptation of the first novel in a trilogy from Stefania S, first published on Wattpadd and which has notched 19 million reads. The movie will be written by Veronica Galli and Serena Tateo with Lotus Production co-producing with Amazon MGM Studios.

Morganti spoke about how Prime Video approaches its YA adaptations and said they often make big changes to the source material and they also tune-in to what the fans are saying.

“You have to be very sure about what you’re going to keep, and what are the things that the audience and the fans that created that IP really would want in the movie, and what you’re going to change. In Culpa, we changed a lot and also in Love me, Love me.”

She added: “You also see the on social all the comments and you have to be very receptive and reactive. You have to stick [with your decision] when you think it’s the right thing, but you also have to be very flexible and adapt super quickly.”

YA reaches a wide demo and plays well with female viewers, which fits with Prime Video’s international priorities. Morganti was clear it is going after a female audience

“What are we looking now for? We’re looking for women. We have had a lot of action, a lot of comedy and a lot of sport. We now really want to produce women-focused content.

“We have announced a lot of movies for women very recently, for example, in Italy. And we international series that have resonated around the world like The Red Queen, which is a crime story and they usually really appeal to women, but we want more of that.”

She added: “The real focus right now is how do we get to those women, and how do we engage them and make them come to our service.”

Morganti also talked about procedural Costiera, directed by Adam Bernstein (Breaking Bad) and set on Italy’s Amalfi Coast is an example of a more flexible approach to working with co-producers, without breaking down the specifics on rights and terms. Costiera is co-produced by Fremantle’s Italian label Lux Vide and Amazon Studios.

Morganti said: “The most important thing is to show that Southern Europe can be the incubator and the place for an international story that could resonate around the world.”