“New York City’s production industry continues to grow, with 31,570 location shooting days in 2005, which represents a 35 percent increase from the year prior,” Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, said. “So far this year, numerous commercials have shot in New York, for clients including American Express, Barnes & Noble, FreshDirect, Goldman Sachs & Co., Hershey’s, Honda, Maybelline, McDonalds, Microsoft, the New York Lottery, Panasonic, Pizza Hut, Porsche, Reebok, Sprint, Staples, Verizon, VH1 and Victoria’s Secret.”
Last week, the MOFTB announced the launch of “Hot Shots,” an online photo library on www.nyc.gov/film which gives producers and location managers instant access to a catalog of city-owned beaches, bridges, courthouses, highways, jails, military, police and fire facilities, parks and playgrounds, public spaces, and streets and intersections throughout the five boroughs which the city offers free of charge for production. Go to for more info: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/020306_nyc_hotshots.shtml
On June 7, 2005, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting launched the “Made in NY” discount card, which has grown to include over 400 vendors offering discounts to the production industry. The card lowers the cost of production in New York City and connects local businesses to the revenue generated by our $5 billion entertainment industry. Discounts are now available in 27 categories, including: Banking services, camera, grip and lighting, casting, electronics, construction and set design, digital effects, flowers and gifts, restaurants, hair, makeup and wardrobe, hotels, rental space, music, office supplies, postproduction and training, production crew, props, scenic supplies, stock footage and photography, and travel and transportation. Well over 100 productions took advantage of the “Made in NY” discount card from June-December 2005. Click here for more info: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/discounts/discounts_home.shtml
NYC continues to offer to commercials such advantages as free permits, free police assistance and free access to city property, as well as sales tax exemptions on production goods and services.
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