Santa Monica-headquartered Ascent Media Group has named Richard Andrews as senior VP/COO for media services. In his new capacity, Andrews, formerly president of Technicolor Creative Services, will oversee day-to-day operations at AMG facilities that provide digital media services, including: Digital Media Data Center, Burbank and Northvale, NJ; Blink Digital, New York and L.A.; Cinetech in Valencia, Calif.; Ascent Media Wardour Street, London; Stream, London; and Visiontext, London and L.A…..Bicoastal Hornet has added director Lorenzo Fonda to its roster……Toy NY has added the team of copywriter Jake Benjamin and art director Mark Voehringer, formerly of Saatchi & Saatchi, New York. Tiffany McKee, who had been freelancing at Toy as a creative, has also joined the shop….Tony Granger, chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, will chair the advertising jury for The Art Directors Club’s 86th annual Awards competition. Chairing interactive will be Rei Inamoto, global creative director of AKQA. Winners will be announced in the spring with a gala ceremony slated for late May at the ADC Gallery in New York…..Tom McGowan has returned to Quantel to serve as its CEO for North America. He will divide his time between the hardware/software maker’s California office and its North American headquarters in Vienna, Va. Earlier in his career, McGowan was VP of broadcast sales at Quantel. He more recently served as director of broadcast sales operations, Midwest and Western States and national sales for Avid Technologies……
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