Imaginary Forces (IF) has brought Tiffani Manabat on board as general manager and executive producer, and Harshit Desai as creative director.
Manabat’s background in everything from live action production to the emergence of episodics as VP of commercials at Digital Domain has prepared her to lead IF’s team of analog, digital, and innovative thinkers. “What I suspected about IF is that it’s greater than the sum of its parts, galvanizing everyone in its orbit. This studio deeply understands our success is contingent on the success of our clients and I am genuinely delighted to be here,” said Manabat who added that IF “consistently brings creative fearlessness to the table, with just a touch of healthy naïveté.”
Desai, who moved from Mumbai, India, in 2010, heralds from InSync Plus and Digital Kitchen, where he art directed the Emmy-nominated title for Netflix’s Narcos. His work which is inspired by a strong sense of nostalgia and a true respect for the craft will add another unique layer to the creative leadership at IF.
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