Best Content Studios in Milan (2026)

Introduction

Milan has seven content studios worth a close look in 2026, spread across podcast companies, a publisher’s in-house agency, branded content producers and an agency’s storytelling division. They suit brands that want a series, a documentary or a podcast with an audience of its own, rather than a single commercial.

Audio has been the busiest corner of the market. The Festival del Podcasting marked its tenth anniversary with a summit at MIND in Milan on 2 and 3 October 2026, and added an Audioboost award for the best branded podcast. Be Water, the group behind Chora Media and Will Media, bought the sports title Cronache di Spogliatoio in January 2026 for a reported 7.5 million euros. Il Foglio reported in September that Chora co-founder Mario Calabresi was leaving after six years. Publishers have been organising around the same demand: Hearst Italia renamed its creative agency HearstMade Italia in March 2025.

Every studio here has a working Milan address in 2026. The list is unranked, since the right choice depends on the format, the audience and how much editorial independence the project needs. Studios focused only on commercials are left out.

The best content studios in Milan

1. Chora Media

Be Water group · Navigli · choramedia.com

Chora Media describes itself as Italy’s first podcast company and was founded in 2020 by Guido Maria Brera, Mario Calabresi, Roberto Zanco and Mario Gianani. It operates from Via Lodovico il Moro through Be Content, the company it shares with Will Media. The Reuters Institute reported that the two brands together employ about 100 people and have revenue of 12.2 million euros.

Partner work runs through Chora Studio, which makes podcasts with companies, museums, foundations and universities. Published examples include Storie di luce for Enel, Brillanti for Fondazione Cariplo and Salute Circolare for Aboca. Branded content and advertising made up about 80 per cent of revenue in 2023, so this is core business for the company. With Calabresi leaving, it is worth asking who will run your series.

2. Will Media

Be Water group · Navigli · willmedia.it

Will Media launched in January 2020 as a social-first news brand for younger audiences and joined Chora in 2022. It reports about 1.8 million followers on its largest channels and publishes across social platforms and podcasts.

Brands work with it through campaigns built around themes its community already follows, and past partners include iliad, UniCredit, Sky, Generali and Pfizer. Its longer projects include Junk, a docuseries on fast fashion made with Sky, and the documentary One Day One Day. It suits briefs where the distribution matters as much as the production, because the audience comes with the channel.

3. DUDE

Creative agency, Milan and London · Navigli · dude.it

DUDE is a creative agency on Via Argelati with a dedicated long-form division, DUDE Originals, which scouts, writes, develops and produces stories for film, television and documentary. Originals credits include Genoa Comunque e Ovunque, a documentary released internationally on Amazon Prime in 2024, and the branded podcasts Tempi Sbagliati 2.0 and The Source.

The wider agency’s client list includes Netflix, IKEA, Heinz, Campari and Maserati, which is useful if the content has to sit inside a larger campaign. It also runs The Impossible Society, a storytelling venue built around escape rooms and live games on Corso di Porta Ticinese.

4. Casta Diva Group

Listed on Euronext Growth Milan · Sempione · castadivagroup.com

Casta Diva Group lists branded content and entertainment among its core lines, with Casta Diva Pictures based on Via Piero della Francesca alongside Akita Film. The group also runs events businesses and the Blue Note Milano jazz club, and lists 14 offices worldwide.

Its Entertainment line has made shows for Rai and Food Network, including the Rai 2 dating show Mi Presento ai Tuoi. On the brand side it produced “Perfectly Imperfect” for Veralab at Sanremo 2025. Advertising is a large part of the output, so check for branded content references that match your brief.

5. HearstMade Italia

Hearst · Milan · hearst.it

HearstMade Italia is the creative agency of Hearst Italia, the publisher based on Via Roberto Bracco. It took its current name at the IAB Showcase in March 2025, bringing it into line with Hearst’s hubs in London and New York. It began in 2016 as White Label, with a Milan content studio serving clients including Prada, Fendi and Pomellato by 2019.

The agency handles multi-channel creative production for branded and white-label projects. Working with a publisher’s studio gives access to titles such as Harper’s BAZAAR and ELLE, which suits fashion and luxury brands in particular. Agree early how the work will be labelled, and whether it can run outside Hearst’s own channels.

6. storielibere.fm

Brand of Adriano Salani Editore · Sempione · storielibere.fm

storielibere.fm is a Milan podcast publisher on Via Giovanni Gherardini, working under the line “Scritto a voce”. Its catalogue is mainly editorial audio, with several series credited to Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia.

It also co-produces with outside partners, including Ecosistema Innovazione with Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, Reshaping Multilateralism with Nexus25 and BABY GANG with Publispei. That record makes it a good fit for foundations, universities and cultural bodies that want a narrated series.

7. Orange Media Group

Listed on Euronext Growth Milan · Milan · orangemediagroup.it

Orange Media Group makes video and audio for cinema, television and digital platforms, with more than 60 people across Milan, Turin, Rome and Bologna. Andrea Maffini is its founder and CEO, and Simone Spoladori runs the branded area.

Its branded label, Orange Branded, specialises in corporate documentaries and scientific subjects. Sangue Bianco, a short documentary made with Honboard and Amgen Italia, was shown at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Documentaries on Italy’s food industry and on the energy company Maire are in development, and the group also has an audio area, which worked on the Audible Original Io uccido.

What to look for in a Milan content studio

Start with where the audience comes from. A publisher-owned studio or a media brand such as Will brings an existing readership, while an independent producer will expect the brand to fund distribution. Ask for reach figures on the specific channel your project would run on, since group totals say little about a single series.

Check editorial independence next. Podcast companies and publishers in Milan often place branded series beside their own journalism, and their value depends on that credibility. Agree in advance who approves scripts, how the work is labelled and what happens if a reporter raises something uncomfortable for the sponsor.

Match the studio to the sector. Milan’s fashion and design brands often want visual work and access to titles that their customers read. Energy, healthcare and foundation clients appear often on Chora’s and Orange’s partner lists, usually with audio series or documentaries on longer themes. Ask to hear or see a finished project from your own sector.

Finally, ask how the work moves through review. A six-part podcast or a documentary generates raw recordings, scripts, transcripts and several rounds of cuts, and feedback from legal, brand and communications teams can overlap. Studios with one place for the latest version, and comments tied to a precise moment in the recording, tend to lose less time between rounds.

How Fabric helps content studios

Fabric gives a content studio one workspace for recordings, scripts, client feedback and project knowledge, with AI search across all of it. Long-form projects produce heavy files, and Fabric’s cloud drive streams them on demand so they take no local disk space. Producers and editors share team folders with the latest versions, and can open footage without a full download.

Transcription turns uploaded audio and video into searchable text with clickable timestamps, which helps when an interview runs to several hours. Search then works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, and results jump to the relevant page or moment. There is more on this in your audio sessions are scattered.

Client review runs through shared links. Share a file or folder with the client as a commenter, and they can leave timestamped comments on video and audio without signing up, draw on a video frame or an image, and highlight text in a script or PDF. The team marks each comment completed as it is dealt with, so a round of feedback works like a checklist. The review and approval workflow sets this out.

For finished work, any file or folder can be published as a web page, which is view-only with optional download. Password protection and link analytics help with pitches and pre-release screenings, since each named recipient gets a tracked link. Kanban turns a folder into a board whose cards are the files themselves, which suits an episode or content pipeline.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans. On Team plans, self-writing docs can also maintain a page per client covering decisions, deliverables and open items. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best content studio in Milan?

It depends on the format. For branded podcasts, Chora Media has the largest record among the studios here, with 420 series reported under Mario Calabresi. Will Media suits campaigns aimed at younger audiences on social platforms, and HearstMade Italia suits fashion and luxury brands that want a link to a magazine title.

What is the difference between a content studio and a production company?

A content studio usually helps develop the idea, the format and often the audience, while a production company is mainly hired to make a film from an agreed script. Many firms do both. For commercial shoots, see our list of video production companies in Milan.

What is changing at Chora Media in 2026?

Il Foglio reported in September 2026 that co-founder Mario Calabresi was leaving after six years. Guido Maria Brera remains president of Be Water, the parent group, which bought Cronache di Spogliatoio in January 2026.

Do Italian TV producers make branded content?

Yes. Banijay runs a branded entertainment division whose Italian work includes Lindt Maître Chocolatier on TV8 and Live Italian with Birra Moretti on Prime Video. Banijay Italia is not listed here because a working Milan studio for this work could not be confirmed.

How do branded podcasts usually work in Italy?

The sponsor pays for a series made by a podcast company or publisher, and the series usually runs on that company’s channels and the main audio platforms. Il Sole 24 Ore’s 24Ore Podcast launched a Branded Podcast offer in its 2026 programme, and the Festival del Podcasting now has an award for the format. Agree the credit wording and the rights to reuse the audio before recording starts.

Related lists

Content studios in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Chicago · Toronto

More in Milan: Creative agencies · Social media agencies · Marketing agencies · Video production · Sound design · Animation

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Content teams at agencies · Best video asset management tools