John O'Hea has joined DOJO in San Francisco, reporting to creatives Geoff Edwards and Mauro Alencar. O'Hea comes directly from Goodby Silverstein & Partners where he was an art director/associate creative director. At DOJO O'Hea will assume the title of creative, the same title held by all creatives at the agency….BRW USA, Los Angeles has signed Canadian helmer Mark Palansky for commercial representation. With a feature background, Palansky will be launching his commercial career with BRW USA. Prior to joining BRW USA, he directed short and feature films including: Penelope (2008) and The Same (2001). His debut commercial project is a :60 for Fiat out of Global Hue, Detroit. A :90 version of the spot also appeared alongside the launch of the latest FIAT model at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Upcoming work for the director includes the road trip dramedy Pete & Goat starring Anton Yelchin and Amanda Seyfried….Creative director Wonhee Lee has joined Bigsmack, a creative agency specializing in entertainment marketing and branding. An animator/designer whose credits span such clients as Coke, Nike, Apple, NBC, Fox, Honda and Pepsi, Lee owns the hip Mobius gallery/retail store and is a teacher at the Otis College of Art and Design….
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