Margie Chidley, Ricard Valero and Matthew Wakeman have each been promoted to creative director at Eleven San Francisco. In their new roles, Valero, Wakeman and Chidley head the creative teams for the agency’s ARIA and Dignity Health business, as well as the recently won Oakley account. The trio will report directly to chief creative officer Mike McKay and be tasked with leading the charge on high-level concepts for creative campaigns, developing visual product development, design projects and content creation.
Previously Chidley worked as a sr. copywriter for Eleven, working on accounts like ARIA Hotel Las Vegas, Taylormade and Apple. Prior to Eleven she worked with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Strawberry Frog, R/GA and JWT. Her experience spans a wide range of expertise in TV, viral videos, interactive site experiences, print, branded content and radio for brands including Corona Light, Kleenex, Comcast and Chevrolet.
Valero rises from the previously held role of associate creative director at Eleven, where he worked on accounts like Virgin America, Adidas, TaylorMade and Dignity Health. Prior to joining Eleven, Valero was associate creative director at Evolution Bureau, where he worked with clients Chivas Regal, Intel, NFL, and Sunglass Hut. Valero has worked extensively in Europe and the US, and his creative has been recognized at numerous awards shows including Cannes Lions, Clio Awards and Eurobest.
Wakeman leaves the role of sr. brand designer, which he held when earning an International Young Gun for his digital and social work with Virgin America. Since then, he has been integral in shaping campaigns for Adidas, Apple, AAA, Facebook, Dignity Health, TaylorMade, ARIA and the Oakley account. Prior to joining Eleven, Wakeman led design and branding experiences for a range of companies including The North Face, Fisher-Price, Reef, Target and Oracle.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More