The California Film Commission (CFC) has launched a web-based Green Resource Guide that is designed to promote environmentally conscious production spanning long and short-form content.
The Green Resource Guide, provides production companies with information and tools to reduce their environmental footprint, while saving them the time and expense of conducting their own environmental research.
From pre to post-production, the Green Resource Guide supplies everything from handy tips on green office practices to useful contacts with green vendors. For example, the site has information on where to find sustainably harvested lumber for set production, as well as lists of food banks that accept surplus meals for caterers.
“This guide has been designed to completely streamline the process of green production for film companies of any size,” said CFC director Amy Lemisch. “It’s my hope that these easy, environmentally friendly practices will catch on with all productions shooting in California and throughout the country for that matter. They’re available to everyone.”
The Green Resource Guide comes at a time when the environmental movement is entering the mainstream. More and more production companies are looking for ways to minimize their effect on the environment and some have already adopted many of these environmental guidelines in their day-to-day operations and productions.
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