We open on the CEO of Comedy Central Europe ensconced in his office in a high-rise building. He tells us that comedy is serious business, which is why Comedy Central has to be selective in what it shows, translating into its strict “no clown” policy. Suddenly a cream pie hits the office window.
The spot cuts outside to a horde of rioting clowns, pitted against a fully equipped police squadron. Pies are thrown at the cops who raise their shields, blocking the dessert assault. However, a clown gets on the other side of the blockade, taps a policeman on the shoulder who turns around. The clown lifts the cop’s helmet visor and make a direct hit with a cream pie.
The chaos includes a clown fired from a cannon who lands safely on the Comedy Central roof. He unfurls multi-colored handkerchiefs which are tied together, making for an amusing impromptu ladder for other clowns to climb up on in their bid to take over the building.
Back to ground level, a clown juggles a number of red balls, only to throw them all at riot squad police.
Authority prevails it would seen, though, as one of the parting scenes shows several sad clowns being hauled off in a paddy wagon.
“Riot” was directed by Jonathan David of recently launched production house Happy Ending for Amsterdam-based agency Nothing.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More