SVP Executive Producer - Innovation
McCann NY
1) It’s inspiring to see more purpose and authenticity in work and for these campaigns to be celebrated beyond the context of cause marketing. I expect living and communicating a brand’s values in every piece of work will become the norm rather than the one-off and content that documents what a brand is doing will be on the rise.
2) I thought the “Live Looper” music video by The Academic was brilliant. To use a quirk in a new technology to make content more interesting as it progresses was so clever and the teams executed it perfectly.
3) I’m biased here, but I predict (read: hope) that business will continue to push beyond the mediums we’re used to seeing in advertising. Who knew that a bus, a sculpture, and an astronaut helmet could communicate a message so perfectly? I think the mediums we use to engage audiences will continue to grow and I’m thrilled to be someone who gets to figure out how to do this.
4) See answer to first question.
5) Forget Tesla, if I had money to burn, I’d go for a BlackFly or Kitty Hawk as soon as they became available. It’s mind boggling to me that advances in autonomous cars are happening in parallel to flying cars. And to think, my dad made me drive stick because it would be “useful in the future.”
6) It’s all about finding the right people who are inquisitive, dedicated, and creative. It’s easy to teach mechanics but you can’t teach character. When mentoring new talent, I find it’s most important to be their support system. The best talent will reach and grow if you give them the space and let them know you’re there to support them along the way.
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