Sam Mendes which began transmission in early 2013. In April 2016 he was named as the President of the Jury for the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. On 5 January 2010, news broke that Mendes was employed to direct the 23rd Eon Productions installment of the "James Bond" franchise. The film, "Skyfall", was subsequently released on 26 October 2012, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Bond films. Mendes had been employed as a consultant on the film when it was in pre-production, and had remained attached to the project during the financial troubles of MGM. The film was a major
Sam Mendes "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice", Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party", and "Othello" with Simon Russell Beale as Iago. In 1990 Mendes was appointed artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, a studio space in London's Covent Garden which he helped transform into one of the city's more notable theatre venues. He spent his first two years overseeing the redesign of the theatre, and his opening production was Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" in 1992. Several successful productions followed. In 1993 Mendes staged an acclaimed revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb's "Cabaret" starring Jane Horrocks as Sally Bowles, Alan Cumming as