Camille Geier has joined Curious Pictures as senior VP/head of studio, a newly created position at the multi-platform production and entertainment company. Geier brings extensive experience in short and long-form fare to her new Manhattan roost, having served as executive producer of visual effects for such features as Ghost Town (directed by David Koepp) and the soon-to-be-released Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi), and as visual effects producer on a slate of films that includes Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese), Bloodwork (Clint Eastwood), Deconstructing Harry (Woody Allen), and Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven).
On the ad front, Geier has had a hand in overseeing production for and producing assorted commercials. She comes over to Curious from Rhino-Gravity where she played an integral role in building its feature film VFX division while running the commercials operation. Her production acumen across different disciplines and genres dovetails nicely with a Curious mix of both original content and work for hire spanning features, TV shows, new media, commercials and gaming.
On the latter front, for example, Curious is active in game development and production, having worked on the noted interactive game Rockband (Beatles, Green Day, etc.), various iPhone apps and is now, according to managing partner Jan Korbelin, about to embark on a major deal to develop a game property for an undisclosed lifestyle brand.
Curious had been courting Geier for some time to take on a lead role in growing the studio’s capacity and creativity, in finding more ways to share resources to serve the different entertainment and advertising platforms, and in helping to further diversify business.
“A lot of our growth has organically developed,” related Korbelin who himself is a veteran feature film producer (an exec producer of the Oscar-winning Crash) and management executive. “For instance, we have a director on the commercial side [Rohitash Rao] who came up with an idea for a TV series, which we are helping to develop for one of the major networks. Our talent base is constantly generating new ideas for content.”
Prior to her tenure at Rhino, Geier spent seven years at Industrial Light+Magic (ILM), serving most notably as a senior producer where her exploits included not only the aforementioned Gangs of New York and Starship Troopers but also visual effects for select spots, including McDonald’s for DDB Chicago, via ILM’s now defunct commercial unit. Earlier she was a senior producer with the former (Colossal) Pictures, turning out commercials such as Coca-Cola’s “Games” via Creative Arts Agency (CAA), Beverly Hills, and a Nintendo campaign out of Leo Burnett Chicago.
Geier noted that (Colossal)–with its involvement in spots, TV series and long-form projects often blending live action, effects and varied forms of animation–parallels the diversity fostered by the Curious creative and business model. The major difference, she observed, is that in recent years, the digital and interactive component has come of age, giving Curious an even more expansive palette from which to shape content.
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