AMC–which broke new ground in 2008 when Mad Men became the first basic cable series ever to win a Best Drama Emmy (the first of three consecutive such honors and the show is still going strong, garnering 18 nominations this year)–has now diversified into original web programming with The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks, the first AMC Digital Studios production. Shot in black-and-white cinematic style, Arthur Banks also marks the network’s first comedy series. Consisting of three episodes totaling 40-plus minutes, the show went live on Monday (8/22) at amc.tv and Hulu.
While Mad Men brought the 1960s advertising biz into contemporary primetime entertainment, Peter Glanz–director, creator, editor, co-writer and an executive producer of the wry Arthur Banks–hopes the web series will generate additional momentum for his ad career. He is repped as a director for commercials and branded content by First Wave, a New York-based hybrid production/post/music house under the aegis of EP Justin Havlik.
Indeed Glanz is already a directorial discovery, identified as such by the recently launched AMC Digital Studios which actively scouts for new filmmaking voices–writers as well as directors–to brand the network online. Its initial branding endeavor, Arthur Banks, stars Adam Goldberg in the title role of an accomplished playwright/director who stages a play that reflects his dysfunctional love life. We see how the two worlds parallel and then collide as his romantic escapades–which include his leading lady and her understudy–come alive on and off stage with a darkly tinged comic bent. Characters such as Banks’ therapist (played by Jeffrey Tambor) and a married male friend who too is romantically challenged add to the mix of angst, neuroses and self-deprecating humor. (At one point, the narrator tells us that Banks views his romantic relationship with the play’s lead actress as being “an allegory for the Spanish Inquisition.”)
Short filmography
AMC gravitated to Glanz based on his work in short films. In 2008, he wrote and directed the short A Relationship in Four Days, which had its domestic and international debuts, respectively, at the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Critics’ Week. Last year, Glanz’s short The Dinner Party premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. AMC became interested in a web series based on the male lead in The Dinner Party, building that character and his story. Glanz wrote the scripts and AMC was favorably impressed, not only green lighting them for the show but signing the director/writer to a first-look deal for TV and narrative web content.
Though First Wave’s Havlik wasn’t directly involved in The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks, Glanz credited him with being “incredibly helpful in navigating the web world” and pointing the series in the right direction.
Glanz actually has roots in spotmaking, which eventually led him to Havlik. After graduating from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., Glanz first moved into helming various fashion commercials and gaining representation from Paris production house Premiere Heure (which Glanz said still handles him on the other side of the Atlantic for select spots). This later brought him to stateside roost Grand Large headed by executive producer Steve Horton, a former Premiere Heure staffer. At Grand Large, Glanz met exec producer Havlik who in ’09 helped launch Grand Large’s GL-X, a division focused on new media projects, including varied forms of web content. When Havlik exited Grand Large to form First Wave, Glanz went with him earlier this year. Among their collaborations at Grand Large was an Estee Lauder perfume ad towards the end of 2010. This adds to a body of work for Glanz over the years that also spans commercials for fashion icons such as Marc Jacobs and Bergdorf Goodman.
“After being heavily involved in commercials at the start of my career, I went on somewhat of a hiatus in order to pursue my work in short films and longer form project development,” related Glanz. “But I’ve always loved doing commercials and now for the first time in quite awhile, my schedule is flexible enough to accommodate them. My hope is that the AMC web series will help to generate agency interest in me for commercials and branded web content.”
Feature prep
Still, Glanz’s schedule remains quite diverse. He has adapted A Relationship In Four Days into a feature, The Longest Week, which Neda Armian (producer of Rachel Getting Married) is slated to produce. Currently in prep on the feature, Glanz said he nonetheless currently has an opportune window of availability for spots and branded entertainment as filming of The Longest Week doesn’t get underway until October. After that, when he is in post on the feature film, Glanz said he would be able to take on additional ad assignments.
Glanz described Armian as “a godsend,” citing her pedigree on assorted Jonathan Demme movies, including Rachel Getting Married, which was nominated for Best Feature at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. Glanz also noted that he enjoyed a positive working collaboration with Armian as his producing partner on The Trivial Pursuits Of Arthur Banks.
From short to long-form fare, Glanz storyboards every single frame. He said he especially enjoyed working on Arthur Banks with cinematographer Eric Koretz, who earlier this year won the best cinematography honor at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival on the strength of director Tristan Patterson’s documentary feature Dragonslayer.
Kamala Harris Receives Chairman’s Prize At NAACP Image Awards
Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.
"While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us," Harris said after receiving the NAACP's Chairman's Award. "The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people."
The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.
Harris, defeated by Trump in last year's presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state's attorney general.
In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump's actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America's future.
"Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask 'What do we do now?'" Harris said. "But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path."
Other winners of the Chairman's prize have included former... Read More