Transmultimedia 2016 Video Retrospective

Richard Zampella is a documentary film producer who along with Writer/Director John Mulholland has created content for Warner Home Video and Paramount Pictures. Among their production credits are Sergeant York: Of God and Country, narrated by Liam Neeson. Inside High Noon narrated by Frank Langella and Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen narrated by Sam Waterston. The later was chosen by the New York Times as a Critics’ Pic in October of 2013.

In early 2017 both Mulholland and Zampella have begin post production on a brand new documentary which explores the life and works of Author Elmore Leonard and his place in the American literary pantheon. The documentary discusses how he started, why he wrote what he did, how he arrived at his lean, terse minimalist style of writing.

Get social with Richard Zampella at: facebook.com/RichardZampella.nyc

Joan Leslie: The Girl Next Door 1925-2015

“We will miss our friend Joan Leslie" one of our guests on Hollywood Film Chatter and an on camera participant on our documentary Sergeant York: Of God and Country.  A wonderfully elegant & sophisticated lady."

How’s this for hitting the ground running? In 1941, at 16, Joan Leslie starred opposite Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) and Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra). At 17, opposite James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) and Henry Fonda (The Male Animal). And at 18? How about Fred Astaire (The Sky’s The Limit)? And two of Leslie’s co-stars, Cooper and Cagney, won Best Actor Oscars playing opposite her.

Born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, Leslie began performing at the age of three as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters. She began her Hollywood acting career while still a teenager, performing under her real name in several movies, beginning with her debut in the MGM movie (Camille) in 1936 with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor.

In Warners' Hollywood Canteen (1944) Leslie played herself, as did her real-life sister Betty Brodel. When her Warners contract ended in 1947, Leslie free-lanced for several years, turning in an admirable performances in The Woman They Almost Lynched (1956).

A battle with Warner Bros. over her long-term contract ended her tenure there and made it hard for her to find work at the other major studios. She got one good part in the independently produced Repeat Performance (1947), and then ended up at Republic Pictures, where prestige was scarce but some great roles came her way.

Leslie was not afraid to challenge her screen image as the sweet and supportive woman. Looking for richer roles, Leslie went the independent route in the late forties. In 1948’s Northwest Stampede, she plays the foreman of a ranch, every bit as tough as the men. In 1950, she worked with director Nicholas Ray in the underrated film noir, Born To Be Bad.

She starred in many more movies until 1950, when she married Dr. William Caldwell. Her last movie role was in The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), and she eventually retired from acting altogether to look after her identical twin daughters Patrice and Ellen. She has appeared in several television commercials since then, and also made guest appearances in the TV shows Murder, She Wrote and Charlie's Angels. She also provided commentary as extras on the Yankee Doodle Dandy, Sergeant York, and High Sierra DVDs.

In recent years, she had a small part in a TV movie remake of Repeat Performance called Turn Back the Clock (1989).

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street.

– John Mulholland, 10.15.15

Paramount Studios – Hollywood, California

Producer Richard Zampella on the Lot at Paramount Pictures 9.29.15

Of the Big Six Movie Studios, Paramount is the only one still based in Hollywood, and Paramount and Fox are the only ones still located within the Los Angeles city limits.

True to its dramatic origins, Paramount has been of the most storied companies in American film history with Adolph Zukor and his successors amassing a dazzling stable of talent that upheld the most robust rosters of celebrities which included their biggest star – Gary Cooper.

Cooper singlehandedly lifted Paramount’s sagging Depression-era fortunes, playing “everyman” heroes, perfectly capturing the era, such as Longfellow Deeds in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); Long John Willoughby in Meet John Doe (1941) — both Frank Capra classics — and Alvin York in Sergeant York (1941). Cooper came to embody the essence of the American character, especially that unique combination of rugged individualism and magnanimous selflessness — in his case, nurtured by the West and his English immigrant parents, who inculcated in him the elegant manners of a “gentleman.”

Cooper played one of baseball's greats, Lou Gehrig, in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and garnered another Best Actor Academy Award nomination. Appearing in a film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, Cooper starred opposite Ingrid Bergman in a drama set during the Spanish Civil War. This role earned him a third Academy Award nomination.

Of the 100s of films that cooper starred in throughout his decades long career – Gary Cooper filmed the majority of those films on the lot at Paramount Studios.

About Richard Zampella:

Richard Zampella is the Producer of Cooper & Hemingway: The True Gen which is a documentary film about the 20-year friendship between writer Ernest Hemingway and film actor Gary Cooper. Written and directed by John Mulholland, it is narrated by actor Sam Waterston with actor Len Cariou as the voice of writer Ernest Hemingway. The film was reviewed by The New York Times film critic Andy Webster on October 11, 2013 and was named an NY Times Critics’ Pic by Manohla Dargis, A. O. Scott and Stephen Holden.

Richard Zampella Producer of Sergeant York: Of God & Country Narrated by Liam Neeson

Narrated by: Liam Neeson
Written & Directed by: John Mulholland
On Camera Participants: Maria Cooper, Joan Leslie, June Lockhart, Michael Birdwell, M.Z. Ribalow, and Film Historian Robert Osborne.
Produced by: Richard Zampella

This Documentary produced for Warner Home Video entitled Sergeant York: Of God and Country runs 38 minutes and 55 seconds as it mixes movie clips, archival materials, and interviews. It includes on camera interviews with authors Michael Birdwell and MZ Ribalow, actors June Lockhart and Joan Leslie, Gary Cooper’s daughter Maria, and film historian Robert Osborne. The film chonicles how Alvin York's story was brought to the screen; and explores York’s restrictions and requirements. The film follows casting decisions, war-related issues of the era and script development, performances, characters, shooting topics and production problems. Watch the story behind Gary Cooper's Academy Award winning role.

For more information contact:
Richard Zampella
contact@trans-multimedia.com
www.ofgodandcountry.com