The glamorous film world can be a jungle. But Andy Schroeder honed his survival skills as a kid, growing up albino in Ostia in the 1980s, with bullies, thugs, and outright mobsters. Now he’s the respected and admired founder of W, an agency representing famous actors and actresses and fresh young faces alike, such as the splendid Vera Bellini, the complex Berto Martini, and the haughty ageing star Italia Nobile. It’s August on the eve of the Venice Film Festival, glittering and stress-producing in equal measure. Andy and his team know they’ll be fielding expectations, frustrations, and sheer caprice, but they sure don’t expect a series of strange accidents that will involve all W’s star clients, one by one. Worries are growing in the rarefied rooms of the Venetian hotels, while the most dangerous charge of all is being leveled at Andy from different quarters: could he possibly be a jinx? How can this string of accidents be simply a coincidence?

The founder and head of the film talent agency DO Agency, Daniele Orazi has handled the careers of Italian and international stars and upcoming talent for over thirty years. In 2005, he founded Officine Artistiche, which brought artists like Daniele Liotti, Filippo Timi, Francesca Inaudi, and Alba Rohrwacher under his wing. In 2016, he made his debut at the Venice Film Festival as a co-producer (La ragazza del mondo by Marco Danieli). In 2017, he saw to the conception, production and artistic direction of the documentary DIVA! directed by Francesco Patierno, based on the book Quanti sono i domani passati by Valentina Cortese. Ostiawood marks Orazi’s debut as a novelist.