Known to our trade as a veteran of the commercialmaking industry, production house entrepreneur/executive producer Tom Mooney is also a Vietnam War veteran. And when his son, who’s a Marine, recently came home safe from a tour of duty overseas, the elder Mooney felt the need and burning desire to make an album, “#10 G.I.,” carrying a message to break the seemingly endless cycle of war so that all our servicemen and women can come home.
The first single–“Forget The Hate,” for which Mooney sings and plays guitar–and corresponding music video from that album have just been released, with all sales proceeds going to charities that support our troops and war veterans.
The song was 40 years in the making as Mooney had been noodling with the lyrics over the decades dating back to his time in the military. He finally brought it to full fruition recently given that today’s times call for its message.
The black-and-white video, directed by Alex Engel, has Mooney performing against a backdrop of historic images from war and politics. His raspy vocal rendition is a call for peace, showcasing those in the military service who sacrifice of themselves on assorted fronts, and in some cases sadly make the ultimate sacrifice. The album and video are designed to put the spotlight on our soldiers instead of the election year norm when politicians are front and center stage.
Mooney and Engel conceived of the video, which can be seen below and is posted on YouTube. More info can be accessed on Mooney’s Forget The Hate Facebook page. and here.
The performing ensemble on the album consists of vocalist/guitarist Mooney, Jay Folk on lead guitar, Phil Calico on bass guitar and Paul Ducker on saxophone. Calico and Mooney are album producers.
Dan Klein executive produced the video, which was shot on the Curious Pictures stage in NYC. The stage, talent, time and services that brought the music and video to fruition were all donated.
Mooney, perhaps best known in the ad biz as founder of the venerable production house Headquarters, now maintains ADDigital Productions. Klein is exec producer at ADDigital and Engel is on the company’s directorial roster.
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