The initials C and W stand for two related entities–one of which has creative implications for the advertising community; the other is a new TV network slated to make its debut in September.
The latter–which takes its C from CBS Corp., the W from Warner Bros. Entertainment–will be a combination of the best programs from the soon-to-be-shuttered WB and CBS-owned UPN networks. The plan calls for two fledgling networks to become a strong single network.
This CW network in turn has devised another c.w., this one in lower case–“content wraps”–which combine advertising and entertainment. Content wraps deploy serialized stories told in three two-minute segments that run during an evening of programming. CW is hoping that its c.w. will lead to meaningful advertiser experimentation.
The new hybrid ad form is designed as a means to hold viewer attention, counteracting the TiVo effect in which commercials get bypassed. There’s also the fear that another countermeasure to TiVO, product integration in TV series, could eventually reach a saturation point, meaning that advertisers still will need other forms and genres–such as content wraps–to effectively get their messages and branding across to prospective consumers.
Though a first sponsor had not yet been lined up for the content wrap concept at press time, the CW network has a sample of how the three-part format would play. In the prototype, a geeky young man gets a makeover, then goes out on a date, and then conjectures about whether he will get a second date–all the while talking about certain products.
While the CW network will still primarily rely on traditional advertising support, the diversification into content wraps and other forms is deemed necessary due to the changing media landscape in which viewers can more easily circumvent spots.
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