Creative postproduction shop Uppercut has added Kathrin Lausch as executive producer. Lausch has over two decades of experience as an EP for production and post companies such as MPC, Ntropic, B-Reel, Nice Shoes, Partizan and Compass Films, among others.
Half French, half German-born, Lausch followed dual pursuits in law and art to NYC and quickly navigated her way to the world of production. She launched Passport Films, which later became Compass Films, in 1994 to usher European talent into the U.S. market and rapidly built a multi award-winning international production powerhouse. After selling the company, she followed the onset of the digital advertising marketplace, landing with B-Reel where she ushered in talent at the convergence of entertainment and technology for a wide-range of branded projects. She made the shift to postproduction, further embracing the new digital landscape as executive producer at Nice Shoes and Ntropic before landing as head of new business at MPC.
Lausch noted, “The hierarchy of the industry is changing, which calls for adoption and change but also opens the door to a whole new world of opportunity. Uppercut not only has a great boutique sensibility and team of talented visual storytellers, but they are also in the nimble stage of their growth, which allows them to be able to lean in to these opportunities and embrace the change.”
Uppercut owner/editor Micah Scarpelli, said, “Kathrin has an impressive, 360-degree background in advertising and entertainment and her excitement toward industry shifts truly aligns with our approach. With her on board, we’re looking forward to embracing change, not work against it, and dive into new opportunities.”
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