Michael Goi, ASC has been elected to serve a third term as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). The other ASC officers also voted in are VPs Richard Crudo, Owen Roizman and John C. Flinn, III; treasurer Victor J. Kemper; secretary Fred Goodich; and sergeant at arms Stephen Lighthill.
Members elected to the ASC board of governors include John Bailey, Stephen H. Burum, George Spiro Dibie, Richard Edlund, Fred Elmes, Francis Kenny, Isidore Mankofsky, Robert Primes, Kees Van Oostrum, Haskell Wexler and Vilmos Zsigmond.
“I am honored to be re-elected by a membership that is filled with tremendously talented and accomplished artists,” said Goi. “It is a privilege to represent an organization that is committed to educating aspiring filmmakers, as well as advancing and protecting our art form.”
Some highlights for the ASC over Goi’s last term include the organization’s first International Cinematography Summit Conference (ICSC), and the successful launch of the Friends of the ASC program. The ASC hosted cinematographers from around the world at the ICSC to discuss the tools and techniques that are being used in different regions, address where the profession is headed, and establish an open dialogue about issues, concerns, innovations, and common goals. Friends of the ASC was introduced in 2010 to support the ASC’s primary goal of educating budding filmmakers. The program includes unprecedented access to exclusive content about lighting, camerawork and associated technologies, as well as access to industry events featuring ASC members.
Goi is a Chicago native who studied filmmaking at Columbia College Chicago. He launched his career shooting PBS documentaries while he was still a student. After completing his education in 1980, Goi began shooting local commercials and documentaries. He also opened a studio, where he concentrated on fashion and product still photography. Goi earned his first narrative film credit for Moonstalker in 1987.
He has subsequently earned some 50 narrative credits for feature films and episodic television programs. Goi earned ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards nominations for the telefilms The Fixer (1999) and Judas (2005) and an Emmy® nomination for an episode of My Name is Earl (2009).
His credits also include Witless Protection, Fingerprints, Red Water, What Matters Most, Who Killed Atlanta’s Children?, Christmas Rush, Funky Monkey, Welcome to Death Row, The Dukes, the Emmy® Award-winning documentary Fired-Up: The Story of Public Housing in Chicago, and the TV series The Wedding Bells, The Mentalist, Mr. Sunshine, Web Therapy, and The Nine Lives of Chloe King. He also wrote, produced and directed the narrative film Megan is Missing.
Goi is a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts And Sciences, and serves on the national executive board of the International Cinematographers Guild.
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