Would it be fun to have a beer with Genghis Khan? You can do it at Herestobeer.com, the Here’s To Beer, Inc. site, sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, that offers videos of five historical figures quaffing beers as they pontificate about ribald issues, in Genghis Khan’s case having to cook your own food at Mongolian restaurants. “I’m a marauder, a pillager, not a chef,” he exclaims.
Sloane Schroeder, a producer at DDB/Chicago, which created the spot that was produced by Brand New School/Santa Monica, said the humorous historical webisodes were part of the redesign of the site in March to make it “more of a social gathering.” Tom Shipley, senior director of global industry development for Anheuser-Busch, said the historical webisodes were based on TV ads from last year when celebrities identified who they’d like to have a beer with (Spike Lee picked Jackie Robinson) and a contest was held at the site that asked consumers who they’d like to have a beer with. “We had a lot of good entries and it got us to thinking,” Shipley said.
Genghis Khan is one of the historical characters whose webisodes are on the site. They are all played by the same actor, Brendan Hunt, who was chosen from a group of comedic actors. “He had the best handle on making it not overly dramatic, with a wink in his eye and versatile in his accents,” said Jens Gehlhaar, the Brand New School director.
The Genghis Khan video features Hunt in full form, sitting behind a table ranting about Mongolian restaurants, throwing food and a knife at a couple of observers. “It was shot on green screen with the backdrop done in After Effects,” Gehlhaar said. “There was hardly anything moving in the scene, we were just focusing on what he was saying.”
The actor appears behind a large table in the middle of a dark antiquated room. “The color and lighting were inspired by paintings from the period,” Gehlhaar said. “We did a lot of research for the period settings.”
The humorous video “elevates the image of beer and hooks them in with entertainment,” Shipley said.
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