Davide Tortorella was born in Milan in 1961. He learnt the art of play on television from his father Cino (creator and author of all the Saturday afternoon shows, from Chissà chi lo sa? To Il Dirodorlando, for the famous children’s strand TV dei ragazzi), with whom he started to collaborate from the age of ten. He has dedicated almost his entire forty-year career behind the scenes in television to games including M’ama non m’ama, Doppio Slalom, La grande sfida, Vinca il migliore, La ruota della fortuna, Genius, Parole Crociate (the only television show to be sponsored by the weekly puzzle magazine, La Settimana Enigmistica), The Money Drop and many others. He has created riddles, quizzes and practical jokes of every kind for presenters Mike Bongiorno, Paolo Bonolis, Gerry Scotti and others besides. Inevitably he has often taken on the role of competition referee (the “notary” figure), as well as selecting tens of thousands of aspiring contestants.