Director Rodrigo Garcia Saiz and producer John Barreiro have teamed up to launch commercial production company Central Films North. The L.A.-based shop will serve as an expansion of Saiz’s Mexico production company, Central Films, and will focus on multi-cultural and Hispanic advertising in the U.S.
After collaborating at Boxer Films for numerous years, Saiz and Barreiro have partnered again to produce content for the Hispanic market. The roster will also include director Cali Ameglio. Saiz’s recent work out of Central Films North includes an Expedia spot.
Saiz has helmed more than 500 commercials internationally and become a leading Spanish-language commercial director. His work spans such brands as Sprite, Toyota, Skittles, Jack in the Box and Burger King. Saiz’s efforts have earned numerous awards including honors from D & AD, London International Awards, New York Festivals, Ojo de Ibero-American FIAP, the AICP Show, Addy, Ojo de Latin America and in 2013, a Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity for the fifth consecutive year.
Buenos Aires, Argentina native Barreiro moved stateside to New York at age 8, heading to sunnier skies in Los Angeles to visit family as a teenager and never looked back. Getting his bearings in the industry as a PA, he quickly moved up the ladder to producer. With nearly 25 years of production experience, Barreiro leverages his Latin background and production skills to work with nearly every top Hispanic agency including Dieste, Lopez Negrete, Latinworks, Global Hue, Bravo Group, Wing and Alma DDB. He has produced alongside top tier directorial talent on award-winning campaigns for such top brands as Coca-Cola, Nike, AT&T, Budweiser, Powerade, Kraft, Mercedes-Benz and P&G. Prior to Central Films North, Barreiro spent seven years as an executive producer at Boxer Films, working on commercial projects for both international and U.S. advertising campaigns.
Saiz will be represented by Central Films North for the U.S. Hispanic market, but will be repped by O Positive for U.S. general market work.
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