Director Henry Hobson–whose commercialmaking home is the recently launched bicoastal company Alive & Well–has been named by 20th Century Fox to helm its upcoming feature film adaptation of the classic 1954 Isaac Asimov science-fiction novel, Caves of Steel, a murder mystery set in a dystopian future. The assignment marks the second theatrical feature to which Hobson has been attached in recent months–the other being Maggie, which centers on a teenage girl’s six-month metamorphosis into a zombie. Maggie is currently in pre-production. Alive & Well is headed by veteran industry execs Stephen Dickstein and Phillip Detchmendy….Director Lucy Walker–who’s repped for commercials by Supply & Demand Integrated–is jockeying for a return engagement to the Oscar nominees’ circle. A recipient of a Best Documentary Feature Academy Award nomination earlier this year for Waste Land, Walker is again in the running for another nom, this time for her The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom which made Oscar’s 2011 short list of Documentary Short Subject contenders. The short list consists of eight films, of which three to five will end up earning Academy Award nominations….Michael Thyen, director of marketing and sales global procurement for Eli Lilly and Company, has been named the new co-chair of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) Advertising Financial Management committee. He joins committee co-chair Jim Zambito, senior director, agency management/finance at Johnson & Johnson. The ANA Advertising Financial Management committee explores efficiencies, cost savings, return on investment and bringing better value to members’ organizations….
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