Bicoastal Chelsea Pictures and New York-headquartered affiliate Campfire will separate, splitting up common ownership and management. The move enables each shop to focus more on individual strategies, a need which became necessary as a result of the growth experienced by the two entities. Chelsea Pictures, founded in 1987 by Steve Wax, will be owned and managed by longtime company partners Allison Amon and Lisa Mehling. Founded in ’04, Campfire will be owned and operated by Wax together with Blair Witch directors Mike Monello and Greg Hale. “As both Chelsea Pictures and Campfire continue to evolve so rapidly, it became increasingly clear that a separation was necessary to allow each business to continue to flourish,” stated Amon. The move comes, said Wax, as both groups are “at their creative heights.” Chelsea is a mainstay commercial production house with longform involvement. Campfire is known for its new media fare, including Sega’s Beta-7 project and Audi’s “The Art of the Heist” campaign/multimedia event…..Commercial and music video production house FM Rocks, based in Santa Monica, has launched a U.S. Hispanic spot division and hired JC Velasquez to head the new venture. Valasquez will provide Latin spot representation for the company’s directorial roster as well as develop Latin directors in the general market. Velasquez has 10-plus years of experience managing productions in the U.S. and internationally, spanning commercials (McDonalds, Verizon, Ford, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Toyota, Coors Light), music videos, TV promos, live events and programs…..Director Chris Hartwill has joined Nola Pictures, New York. His past roosts have included RSA and Crossroads……Look Effects, Hollywood, has opened a graphic design division, the Captain, headed by designer/director Mason Nicoll, exec producer Ellen Stafford and business development director Eric Todd Smith….
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