UnderWonder Content has added filmmaker Lucas Vignale to its roster. This marks his first commercial signing for U.S. representation. Vignale's body of directorial work includes music videos for J Balvin, Nathy Peluso, Nicki Nicole, Cieloazul, Duki, and Trueno.
Vignale is a natural-born filmmaker whose otherworldly visions are inspired by Argentina’s unique cultural landscapes. His creative journey began in Buenos Aires. As a child obsessed with cinema, he spent his youth shooting countless films starring his friends, pulling together what little resources they could manage in the streets of Buenos Aires. This ingenuity and innate passion, along with a distinctive stylistic voice, guided Vignale toward a film career where he has become one of the top music video directors in South America and is making the leap to the American ad market.
Drawn to character, Vignale is known for award-winning music videos that capture artists’ souls. Vignale’s recent work leans into the otherworldly–transporting Nicki Nicole to a futuristic realm where she reclaims her heart in “Frio,” and capturing the rawness of life on Argentina’s streets in Trueno’s music video paying homage to his homeland.
“The love of cinema poisons me,” said Vignale, “and with the team at UnderWonder Content, I’m enthusiastic about the future. I look forward to creating spontaneous content mixing surrealism with a vanguard aesthetic.”
“Lucas’ undeniable passion is present in every one of his frames,” said Frank Borin, co-founder and executive producer at UnderWonder. “His inimitable music videos are nothing short of visionary, oozing with surreal characters and original point of views on the world we’ve never seen. We look forward to helping bring his spectacular talents to the commercial space.”
UnderWonder has built its reputation on nurturing young, up-and-coming talents and garnered success through an intense passion for music videos that’s led to major ad work. The studio's roster includes Ivanna Borin, photographer Thom Kerr, Troy Roscoe, and the first woman to win Best Director Award at the UKMVAs and best director at the MTV VMAs, Tanu Muino.
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