Ntropic, a visual effects house led by founder/creative director Nathan Robinson, has hired executive producer Jim Riche. Based in Ntropic’s Santa Monica studio, Riche comes over from Digital Domain’s commercial division where he served as an exec producer.
Meanwhile on another expansive front, Ntropic has opened an office in New York to complement its shops in Santa Monica and San Francisco. Ntropic producer Kara Holstrom has moved from San Francisco to handle day-to-day management of the New York operation. All three Ntropic offices are digitally connected, with New York offering Flame, color grading on Lustre, as well as resources in 3D and design. Ntropic will be naming a new creative director/VFX supervisor for the New York office soon. Exec producer Sharon Lew has joined the company to handle business development/sales on the East Coast.
“New York City has an incredibly vibrant artistic community,” noted Robinson. “For us as artists, having an office there really opens us up to new influences and a diversity of projects.” Ntropic is currently in the midst of its inaugural commercial project for ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi/NY. Ntropic is also working on national commercials for Bank of New York and Dodge Ram.
“The fact that we can run a job concurrently through San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York makes this studio a very appealing option and an exciting place to work,” added Riche who added that he was drawn to the opportunity to collaborate with Ntropic’s ensemble of talent, including such artisans as Robinson, Andrew Sinagra, Simon Mowbray, MB Emigh and Marshall Plante.
Riche began his career as a DP and moved into motion control, then producing and directing. He was one of the first Harry operators in the U.S., and has managed staffs of up to 200 people for the production of “PeeWee’s Playhouse,” as well as in his most recent position as EP at Digital Domain. Riche brings more than 25 years experience in commercials, TV and feature films to Ntropic.
Ntropics’ body of work spans commercials, TV and features. TV endeavors include American Idol and Ford, as well as Hawaii Five-O. Ntropic has also made major creative contributions to a global advertising campaign for Franklin Templeton, as well as commercials for HP and Cricket. The company is currently working on VFX for the 2012 release of Total Recall.
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