creative director
Timber
1) There has been a real change in the way influencers have been tapped to be part of branding efforts. 2017 showed a new high watermark for weaving together brands with people who strongly influence lifestyle. It’s grown beyond the concept of celebrity endorsements of the last decade. Now they’ve evolved into true partnerships.
2) Our film for Google Impact Challenge | Canada was a real high point for our team. It didn’t involve broadcast or a product of any sort. 10 life-changing charities were competing for a grant block of hundreds of thousands of dollars. We were literally showing in animated form how much these organizations could change the lives of ordinary Canadians. It was a real honor to be part of something like that.
3) No one piece of media stands alone anymore. Timber helped create a commercial that aired during the Billboard Music Awards for the iON360 that was a component to a bigger collaboration between trendsetters and marketing professionals. The device was used at the awards. The presenters, the entertainers, the live audience and the people watching at home all had varying degrees of exposure to this brand, so 2017 has shown us really interesting ways to tie things together so that people can make connections.
4) The rules are going to continue to crumble, only faster. The roles people play from conception to execution are shifting like sand. Companies are learning to change and adapt through partnerships and working outside of their usual comfort zones. It’s fun to watch and be a part of.
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