3AM, the award-winning entertainment marketing agency founded in 2014 as a joint venture between Ridley Scott’s RSA Films and Wild Card, has brought Shawn Shahani on board as director of strategy. Shahani will work closely with 3AM’s leadership to evolve the strategy practice, strengthening the company’s approach to translating audience research and data into outstanding creative opportunities for filmmakers, studios and brands — and contributing to all phases of the 3AM process. Prior to joining 3AM, Shahani was strategy director at R/GA’s Hustle, leading the agency’s strategy team and servicing culture-first clients such as Beats by Dre and Twentieth Century Fox.
Shahani brings a deep expertise in brand and digital strategy and a proven ability to think strategically and act creatively. His additional experience includes working as co-head of social strategy for Havas New York, servicing brands such as Dos Equis, Hersheys, Liberty Mutual and Diageo, and social strategist at Momentum Worldwide, where he led his team in digital strategy for client Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. He was the first hire of Hearst-owned digital agency iCrossing’s Live Media Studio content practice and began his career at American Apparel where he helped launch its marketing and digital practice while developing online influencer outreach at the height of the company’s popularity.
“Shawn is a great fit for our team,” said Chris Eyerman, executive creative director, 3AM. “More than ever, the entertainment industry needs to get smarter, bolder and stronger. Nearly every second of the week is contested by quality content across every medium and a great idea no longer has a fighting chance without a brilliant core strategy, a truly distinctive hook and a killer distribution plan embedded at its core. Shawn has a proven track record of building attention-earning projects and communications that address these challenges.”
Alison Temple, managing partner, 3AM, added, “We’re always looking for creative disruptors at 3AM — people who understand how to tap into the entire continuum of modern storytelling and platform opportunities, and define the next generation of entertainment. Shawn’s unique ability to create elegant strategic solutions across the worlds of brand and entertainment will help us offer even more impactful work in the coming year. We’re excited to have him on the team.”
“The opportunity to join 3AM was an exciting one across the board,” Shahani commented. “The talent and work is already best-in-class and the leadership is inspiring and ambitious. Continuing to evolve our reputation that we think differently, understand people better than anyone else and know how to strategically find the right moments to grab the world’s attention is an exciting challenge.”
Among 3AM’s acclaimed work is a holistic prologue narrative concepted in partnership with Ridley Scott for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros.’ critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049. The prologue shorts include “2036: Nexus Dawn” with Jared Leto, and “2048: Nowhere to Run” with Dave Battista. 3AM also created the award-winning “Meet Walter” ft. Michael Fassbender, the branded entertainment partnership for Twentieth Century Fox’s Alien: Covenant and AMD, and Fox’s “The Martian Prologue” campaign.
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