GL-X, a division of Grand Large Inc., has taken on exclusive U.S. commercial representation for director Jonas Elrod who recently helmed three Febreze Air Effects spots for Grey. Elrod began his career at Rockhard Films where he worked as a director, producer and editor. Elrod's filmography also includes the documentary Wake Up, which was the premier film on the new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) series Super Soul Sunday….Minneapolis-based design/post house Splice Here— has brought 3D animator Andrew Lefton into the company fold. He most recently served as a lead 3D/post artist at the Design Center in St. Paul. Prior to that, he was lead animator/creative partner/owner of Eight Point Productions in Minneapolis….San Francisco-based agency Eleven Inc. has hired Anastacia Maggioncalda in the new company role of executive producer. She comes over from Eveo, San Francisco, where she was VP, managing director. Maggioncalda will be in charge of all filmic production at Eleven. The agency recently expanded their broadcast studio capabilities with a new team of editors, electronic artists and sound engineers, and built out a new in-house video production and postproduction studio. Maggioncalda will oversee all in-house production, as well as external collaborations including hiring outside production companies, directors and animators….
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