FilmTecknarna–a noted Stockholm-headquartered design/storytelling/animation house with work spanning commercials, music videos and shorts–has set up shop in New York with plans to upgrade its stateside presence from an office to a full-service studio within the next year.
Hired several months ago to help realize that goal was veteran executive producer Bill Hewes, who earlier in his career had a lead hand in establishing and staffing the New York operation of Digital Kitchen, which also maintains offices in Chicago, Seattle and Culver City, Calif. While at Digital Kitchen from 2003-’07, Hewes was part of the overall management of the company and routinely executive produced live action, design, visual FX and animation projects in all four offices.
FilmTecknarna’s credits include campaigns for such clients as Absolut, BMW, Boddingtons, Ikea, McDonald’s, Hummer and Southern Comfort, high profile music videos like Madonna’s “Music” and Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out,” and short films, among the most notable being Lies, which earlier this year won the Special Jury Prize for best international short at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Lies was directed by Jonas Odell, who co-founded FilmTecknarna with director Stig Bergqvist and company CEO Lars Ohlson.
“We have looked forward to deepening our presence in the States for some years now,” said Ohlson. “We love to tell compelling stories through unique design, and feel we can do it more and better by expanding our presence into the U.S. market.”
This marks FilmTecknarna’s first full-fledged stand-alone stateside office. Years back it had been repped by and worked through New York-based Curious Pictures on American assignments,
FilmTecknarna’s directorial roster consists of Odell, Bergqvist, David Nord, Johanna Andersson, Jessica Lauren, Boris Nawratil and Jonas Dahlback.
Exec producer Hewes’ experience encompasses live action, design, graphics, visual effects and animation in spot production, broadcast and new media. He made the transition from traditional live action to the design/animation driven production world at Studios V12 in Los Angeles. Previously he was for several years executive producer at Barking Weasel, a live action commercial company based in Los Angeles, where he also oversaw Weasel Works, a small design division, and Model Citizen, an in-house editorial company.
FilmTecknarna has a U.S. sales force comprised of independents Judy Wolff on the East Coast, and firms Hilly Reps in the Midwest and Reber Covington on the West Coast. Hesty Reps handles the Canadian market.
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