Park Pictures, the commercial production house founded by director Lance Acord and executive producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee, has formed a narrative feature company, Park Pictures Features, with film producers Galt Niederhoffer and Sam Bisbee. Park Pictures Features’ first project is the family comedy Robot & Frank, marking the theatrical feature directorial debut of Park Pictures’ Jake Schreier. The film’s cast includes Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Jeremy Strong and Liev Schreiber. Written by Christopher Ford, the feature is being produced by Niederhoffer, Bisbee, Kelman Bisbee and Acord and has begun shooting in New York with Matt Lloyd serving as DP.
Set in the future, Robot & Frank follows aging curmudgeon, Frank (Langella), a confused loner with a love for books. His one friend is the librarian Jennifer (Sarandon) that he regularly visits. Other than his library outings, and weekly visits from his son, Frank lives a quiet, lonely life, until his grown-up kids (Marsden, Tyler) install a caretaker robot to look after their dad and an unlikely friendship begins.
Next on the Park Pictures Features’ slate are the theatrical film directing debut of Acord and a new project from director Ringan Ledwidge. The company will also produce the adaptations of Sam Lipsyte’s best-selling novel, “The Ask,” to be directed by Steven Shainberg, and the late David Foster Wallace’s short story, “Little Expressionless Animals.”
Niederhoffer thus far has produced 21 features, eight of which have been shown in competition at the Sundance Film Festival–with seven winning awards, including Grace Is Gone which garnered the Sundance Audience Award in 2007.
Sam Bisbee’s film debut as a producer–The New Tenants directed by Park Pictures’ Joachim Back–won the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short last year. Bisbee executive produced and co-wrote the screenplay and songs for the slasher musical Don’t Go In the Woods, directed by Vincent D’onofrio (who starred in The New Tenants). Bisbee additionally has screenwriting and singer/songwriter/composer credentials.
Park Pictures plans for two movies in its first year. The company will draw on its directing talent (which includes Acord, Schreier, Niederhoffer, Ellen Kuras, Joachim Back, Gary Freedman, Steven Shainberg, 300ml and Alison Maclean) as well as local NYC directors to make films with strong visual, narrative, and commercial appeal.
Acord, partner in Park Pictures and Park Picture Features, related that the former is “a company comprised of filmmakers, so as we grow and evolve it only makes sense to develop and produce their feature projects. Being a commercial production company, we have a unique opportunity to utilize our resources within the industry to economically and efficiently make long form films. Having Galt on board has been great. Her knowledge and expertise is such an amazing asset. I have been excited to see Robot and Frank go into production. Jake and C.D. Ford have been working on this for quite some time now and I must admit it has been a bit surreal to sit on set and see the film actually take shape. Jake is a very talented guy. His confidence on set and insights into working with actors far exceeds that of a ‘first time director,’ I think his years of experience as a commercial and music video director have served him well.”
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