Delores Hively and Dawn Schiffman of Buzz Management, New York, are handling East Coast representation for animation studio Wreckless Abandon, East Granby, Conn., and graphics/design company The Wilderness, New York. Additionally, Buzz has parted ways with GSP and Playroom, both bicoastal….Rich Schafler of Schafler Artists Management, New York, has signed Minneapolis music company Hest & Kramer, and Santa Monica production shop Uncle for East Coast representation….Outside Editorial, New York, has secured Ilene Silberman of Ilene Silberman Productions, New York, for U.S. representation….Griffin Guess has been named to the newly created post of director of commercials and music videos at Encore Hollywood, heading sales for its shortform postproduction team. Guess formerly served in a sales executive capacity at Encore…. Propeller Music & Sound, New York, has added Jen Weirich as manager of sales and development….Production designer Michael Seymour has joined bicoastal Paradigm for spots. Meanwhile, returning to the firm for exclusive representation in features and commercials is cinematographer Hubert Taczanowski….DP Damian Acevedo, costume designer Marcelle McKay and production designer Sami Straiton have signed with Erika Levy at Montana Artists Agency, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation. Additionally, DP Crescenzo Notarile has wrapped the NBC pilot Hawaii, and is again available for commercials and music videos via Montana Artists….
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