Hugh Broder, an executive producer with agency, advertiser and production-side experience, has joined The Underground as EP/managing director to lead the three-year-old VFX company’s growth into full-service production as well as postproduction for commercials and other brand content.
Formerly head of production at BBDO Detroit as well as director of integrated production at Walmart, Broder joins the management team at The Underground’s parent company, P2P Group, which includes sister company P2P Retouching. P2P enjoys a well-established presence in the beauty industry with agency clients such as Gotham, McCann and Publicis and brand clients such as L’Oréal, Kind and Maybelline.
According to Broder, this new position is a perfect fit for him. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been a builder,” he said, referring to his oversight of multiple production operations. “This is a wonderful opportunity to grow a company that has so much to offer to both agencies and brands.”
At The Underground, Broder will work closely with creative director/lead Flame artist Nic Seresin, who joined the company last year. Recent projects include a direct-to-brand short film for Aston Martin as well as newly released music videos for Jihae, Showtek and Young the Giant. Recent agency clients include Anomaly, Saatchi and Publicis in New York, as well as Odysseus Arms in San Francisco.
Ben Bettenhausen, founder of P2P Group, said of Broder, “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience, and a wonderful energy that will propel our growth into a 360-offering to our clients.”
The Underground is represented by Minerva, the business development company led by Partners Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin.
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