Producers Kevin Matusow, Carissa Buffel and Kate Bacon have teamed with director Chris Woods (not to be confused with the director of the same name at Alive & Well) to launch L.A.-based production house The Traveling Picture Show Company (TPSC). Matusow is CEO of the company while Marie Soto has come aboard as an exec producer. Woods’ prior roosts include Mirror Films and Momentum. Additionally, TPSC has entered into co-venture agreements with Unit FX and The Noise Deli. Per this arrangement, TPSC can offer advertising agencies and clients packaged services, tapping into the talent and resources at Unit FX (which is housed in the same facility as TPSC) and The Noise Deli (based in London). TPSC, Unit FX and The Noise Deli continue to pursue independent projects as well….Director Floria Sigismondi has joined Black Dog Films, the music video division of RSA Films, for music video representation in both the U.S. and U.K. She continues to be handled for commercials by Believe Media where among her notable credits is Absolut Vodka’s “Blank” for TBWAChiatDay, New York, one of many projects cited in this SHOOT issue’s Agency of the Year coverage. Sigismondi has directed music videos over the years for such artists as The White Stripes, David Bowie, The Cure, Sigur Ros and Bjork….Bicoastal The Famous Group has signed director John X. Carey. Earlier this year, Carey was awarded an ADC Gold Cube from the Art Directors Club for his work on “Voices from the Field” for Designmatters/Project Concern International….Film and spot production company Three (One) O’s co-founder and principal Norry Niven has completed principal photography on his feature film directing debut, Chasing Shakespeare…
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