Bicoastal creative studio Eskimo has added Swiss director Elias Ressegatti to its roster. A native of Zurich who now calls Brooklyn home, Ressegatti has turned out recent work for brands such as ESPN, Bico and Mercedes-Benz, and is currently directing two short films, Bodega Cat and Hitched. With seven-plus years of experience in the international commercial world, Ressegatti has become well-known for his cinematic storytelling ability, as he has with his seamless integration of live action with photoreal CG. He has experience directing a diverse range of projects from conception through completion via high-end European post houses, and will bring value to Eskimo as a talent who can wear multiple hats on any type of project and platform….
Creative production company Wondersmith has been launched in Charlotte, NC, under the aegis of founder/executive producer Joe Murray and creative director Thom Blackburn. Murray began his career as a still photographer but soon moved into postproduction as a commercial editor and finishing artist. As a post supervisor, he worked with a diverse client roster including Boone Oakley, Trone, Husqvarna, Panasonic, Carmax, Bojangles’ and Rack Room Shoes. Murray opened Edit at Joe’s in Charlotte in 2003, which he has run successfully for the past 11 years. Blackburn and Murray connected in 2013 to begin laying the groundwork for Wondersmith’s formation. For the previous four years, Blackburn was executive creative director for motion content provider Limerick Studios where he oversaw projects for Belk, The Charlotte Hornets, Duke Energy, Husqvarna, Lowe’s Home Improvement, NASCAR, North Carolina Education Lottery, Rubbermaid and The Hartford, to name a few. Prior to that, he spent a decade in Los Angeles as creative director for full-service motion design and production studio SOLID….
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