Veteran executive producer Bryant Ewing, best known for his tenure at Ultramedia Productions and then its successor shop Luna Pier Films with bases of operation in Detroit, Santa Monica and New York, died on Monday, Feb. 21, at the age of 70.
Ewing had a successful run with Ultramedia and Luna Pier before moving back to his native Michigan from the West Coast in 1993. He had a hand in developing assorted directorial careers, including those of Greg Pike, Gordon MacAlister, Bill Scarlet, Blair Hayes and Phil Morrison. The latter was Luna Pier’s first New York-based director.
Ewing was also active in the postproduction arena, having been one of the founders of edit/post house Postique in Southfield, Mich., before it went on to become part of the Grace & Wild family of companies.
Ewing is survived by his life companion, Suzanne Kuecken, son Jason, siblings Bettina and Kendall Ewing, nephews and nieces Joe, Jacob and Kristin Schmidt and Samantha and Lindsay Maitre, as well as a maternal figure in his life, Nettie Kuecken (Suzanne’s mom).
Services will be held on Friday, Feb. 25, at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Mich. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. and the funeral service is slated to start at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations (write “In Memory of Bryant Ewing” in memo line) be made to Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fund #028184, MGH Development Office, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
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