Bringing nearly 40 boys--all under the age of 12--together even under normal circumstances is a recipe for chaos. But it’s nothing compared to leaving those lads to fend for themselves on an island in William Golding’s classic 1954 novel “The Lord of the Flies.” And then add the dynamic of trying to do justice to that book in a television miniseries of the same title with an ensemble of kids--36 in all--who have never acted professionally on-camera before. That incredibly challenging TV proposition was embraced by screenwriter/executive producer Jack Thorne, director/exec producer Marc Munden and other artisans, including cinematographer Mark Wolf, BSC, yielding a four-part limited series which debuted earlier this year on the BBC and then began streaming this month on Netflix. Lord of the Flies has already earned critical acclaim, including a Gotham TV Award nomination last month in the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category. At first, Munden confessed that when the prospect of such a project was proposed to him, his initial thought was “who needs another version of ‘Lord of the Flies?’” Two feature films had been made--with Munden an admirer of the Peter Brook-directed big screen adaptation released in 1963. But upon reading the script penned by his long-time collaborator Thorne, Munden saw the light--and the opportunity to shine a light on these British schoolboys, particularly the lead characters Piggy, Ralph, Jack and Simon, in an insightful way that hadn’t been done before. In fact each of the four episodes brings a different protagonist to the forefront--the first installment focusing on “Piggy,” episode 2 on Jack, episode 3 on Simon and episode 4 on Ralph. This structure leads to a better understanding of each... Read More