The New York Production Alliance (NYPA) added four seats to its board, bringing the total to 25. Starting as 07-’08 members are: John Held, former executive director of the AICE; Benji Whitehouse of Axium International; Elias Scoropanos of HSBC Bank USA, N.A.; and Terry Lawler of New York Women In Film and Television. Starting additional two-year terms are: John Amman of Local 600, Tom Liebau of Televest Daytime Programming, Burke Moody of the AICE, Lynne Twentyman of Local 161, Eileen Newman of Renew Media, Jae Je Simmons of the Screen Actors Guild and Carl Zucker of Media Services, and Anne K. Johnson. They join Jack Turney of the AICP, Roberta Reardon of the American Federation of TV and Radio Actors, Dennis Reiff of DR Reiff & Associates, Stuart Suna of Silvercup Studios, Lydia Deal Pilcher of the Producers Guild of America, John Ford of Local 52, Russ Hollander of the Directors Guild of America, Mitchell Kreigman of Wainscott Studios and Doug Steiner of Steiner Studios who start the second half of their NYPA terms along with chairman emeritus Morton Dubin.
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