The World Producers Organization held its 12th Annual Summit in Cannes under the organization of the AICP, APA and CFP-E. During their get-together, more than 100 production company owners and executives from 33 countries discussed pressing issues facing the global production industry. As a group, there was absolute resolve that in order to deliver the highest quality product to marketers in the most efficient fashion, bidding procedures must be fully transparent.
Major factors for transparency include marketer expectations such as disclosure for budget range, and complete knowledge of other bidding entities.
The concern that advertising agency-owned production entities could be involved as competitors continues to be of paramount concern to the industry, and is part of an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice in the United States.
Several countries have issued industry-wide statements regarding anti-competitive bidding practices and the reluctance to engage in business under these conditions.
The open market–where production companies compete for work based on expertise and price–is the guarantor of value for advertisers. Anything that distorts that competitive balance, such as agency-owned entities engaged in multi-bidding for work, where they have access to insider information regarding independent production companies’ bids, is contrary to the interests of advertisers–as well as being unfair to the production companies also bidding.
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