Chris Cantwell has joined Pictures In A Row's roster of commercial directors. Cantwell most recently served as creative director at The Walt Disney Company's social media group DigiSynd, where he created popular viral videos for box office hits including Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. His projects and directorial credits at DigiSynd included the “Lots-o' Huggin' Bear” YouTube commercials with a vintage 1980s look that appealed to Gen X-ers. The campaign earned a 2009 Webby Award and helped reach a larger, older audience for Pixar's Toy Story 3, contributing to the box office success of the final film in the franchise. Cantwell also created and helmed “Cars N' Deals of Emeryville,” a faux car commercial that increased buzz for Pixar's Cars 2…. Lori Huck, a former VP of New Line Television, has joined Hollywood, Calif.-based MRB Productions as its director of development. Founded by two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Matthew Brady, MRB specializes in television, features, new media and commercials. With an eye towards all facets of TV development, Huck has developed and helped launch various network series, such as Spike TV's Blade: The Series, MTV's Friday: The Animated Series, and Lifetime's television movie, Poison Ivy: The Secret Society. Huck has also acted as the studio executive for FOX's Kitchen Confidential and UPN's The Twilight Zone, as well as for FOX, in the network's Movies and Miniseries Department, and at ABC in Daytime Programming….Tom Moudry, CEO and chief creative officer at agency Martin Williams, Minneapolis, now regains the title and responsibilities of president, while Laura Terry, formerly VP and account director has been appointed chief marketing officer. Moudry reclaims the president role from Mike Gray who has been working to transition out of agency life for several months….Chicago-based production house Radar has added to its directorial ranks, bringing on AK the Director who comes over from South Africa with some 200 commercials and assorted international awards to his credit. Also new to the Radar roster is the directing/visual effects duo known as COPA, consisting of Alex Frisch and Vico Sharabani. A co-founder of Method Studios, Frisch is known for his effects work in David Fincher's The Game, Gore Verbinski's The Ring and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and commercials for Pepsi, Adidas, and Bridgestone. Sharabani, formerly of New York's rhinofx, is an award-winning VFX artist and creative director who has made commercials for Mercedes, Nike, and AT&T in addition to television and music video work for Sex and the City and Kanye West, respectively. As a team, Vico and Alex have directed commercials for Chrysler, Levi's, Sony PlayStation, Michelob, and Exxon…. Ben Eagleton has joined Fuel VFX, Sydney, as head of color. The move marks his return to Australia after a two-year tenure as the group head of color for Tag Worldwide while based at Smoke & Mirrors New York. Originally from London, Eagleton spent his early years working at Rushes before emigrating to Australia where he took a senior colorist position with The Lab. He then opened BEAN in Sydney, which two years later was acquired by Tag Worldwide, parent of Smoke & Mirrors. Appointed Tag's head of color, Eagleton moved to New York and was responsible for establishing new grading suites and workflows for Smoke & Mirrors' New York, London, Shanghai and Sao Paulo facilities. In recent years, Ben has worked on commercial campaigns and music videos for directors Spike Lee, Gerard de Thame, Jake Scott, Chris Cunningham, Jonathan Glazer, Paul Hunter and Joachim Back….
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