Creative postproduction boutique Uppercut has brought Steve Cokonis on board as VFX supervisor. The addition of Cokonis rounds out the shop’s six-member VFX team, which is led by head of VFX John Geehreng in NYC. Uppercut has a Los Angeles office opening this fall and the hiring of Cokonis underscores expansion and a rapidly growing team on the West Coast. Cokonis began cultivating his love for graphic design and video production in his native Philadelphia before relocating to Los Angeles in 2006 to deepen his craft. Two years later, he landed a job at The Mill as a Flame assistant, working his way up through the ranks to become a lead Flame artist in 2013. In the summer of 2016, Cokonis supervised 300 VFX shots for director Brian Buckley’s feature film Pirates of Somalia, starring Al Pacino, Melanie Griffith, and Evan Peters. Cokonis continued to broaden his postproduction suite of skills, earning a promotion to VFX supervisor in 2017 while at The Mill. After deciding to spread his wings and freelance, Cokonis split his time working with several award-winning studios, including KEVIN, Framestore, Jamm, and The Mill. He recently collaborated with director F Gary Gray on the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show trailer for Pepsi. Over the course of his career, Cokonis has collaborated on notable commercial projects including “Web” for Skittles with director Wayne McClammy, “Jane” for HP with Lance Acord, “Tiempo De Ser Heros” for Nike with Loren Denis, “Two Worlds” for Acura by Mark Jenkinson, “Recycle the Dollar” for IBM by Fredrik Bond, and “Sea Captain” for Old Spice by Tom Kuntz. Cokonis’ work on music videos spans a variety of genres, including collaborations with Pharrell Williams, director Edgar Wright, Bonobo, and Run the Jewels….
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