Director Matt Smukler, formerly of bicoastal Epoch Films, has joined Rock Fight, Los Angeles. Smukler has an extensive agency creative pedigree, having been at Publicis & Hal Riney and then Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, before embarking on a full-time directorial career in 2003…..Bicoastal Hornet and London-based Passion Pictures have entered into a production alliance, which gives the U.K. studio access to Hornet’s directorial roster for exclusive representation throughout Europe. Initially that lineup of talent will include European representation for stop motion/mixed-media helmer Peter Sluszka, music video/spot animation director Monkimus and character-based comedy director Aaron Stewart. Per the relationship between the two companies, Passion directors gain a stateside production foothold, being able to utilize Hornet’s resources when working with their U.S.-based clients…..Director Bart Timmer has joined Outsider USA for exclusive stateside spot representation. He now garners sales continuity on both sides of the Atlantic in that earlier this year he signed with Outsider, London. Timmer rounds out an Outsider USA roster comprised of Ric Cantor, Henry Littlechild, David Lodge, James Rouse, and Jorn Threlfall….Director Gustavo Garzon has come aboard the roster of CineConcepto America, Miami, for representation in the U.S. Hispanic market. He is a Latin Grammy winner for his Juanes clip “Volverte a Ver”…Composers Justin Asher and Annie Holoien have joined Brahmstedt White Noise, Los Angeles and Minneapolis….
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