Entertainment and media company Alldayeveryday (Allday) has signed Ghost+Cow, the Brooklyn-based directing duo comprised of Brandon LeGanke and John Carlucci. Ghost+Cow specializes in music videos, films, commercials, and branded content, with award-winning work that has screened at Slamdance, SXSW, Telluride, Milano and Cannes Lions. Their film Drone Boning, which began as a commentary on voyeurism and privacy invasion in the 21st century, quickly became a viral sensation that earned millions of media impressions and coverage across web, broadcast news and late night entertainment shows. Ghost+Cow join an Alldayeveryday directorial roster that includes Matt Baron, Kenzo Digital, Cheryl Dunn, Colin Devin Moore, Phil Pinto, Kai Regan, Danny Sangra, Jake Sumner, Josh Taft, Lieven Van Baelen and We Are The Rhoads….
New York/San Francisco-based content creation/production company Bodega has signed director Mark Rosenberg for his first commercial representation. With a diverse background as a director, cinematographer, writer, producer and editor, Rosenberg is no stranger to wearing multiple hats on a project. He boasts two decades of experience in production across commercials, music videos, promos, independent films and documentaries and thrives off creative diversity. His recent work includes two music videos for the Tony-nominated musical On The Town as well as a series of branded documentary shorts for Pivot TV and New Amsterdam Vodka.
Spectrum, based in Tampa, has expanded with the opening of an office in Los Angeles. The expansion is part of a strategic initiative to invest and grow the company’s development efforts nationwide. In that vein, Spectrum, headed by CEO/EP Guy Nickerson, has named Daysun Perkins, former development executive at 44 Blue Productions, as sr. VP of programming and development, West Coast. In his new role, Daysun will lead development of new top-tier concepts for television, digital series and branded content. Prior to 44 Blue, Daysun was in development at such companies as Telepictures, CBS TVD, GSN and Eyworks. At 44 Blue, Daysun oversaw an expansive slate of development projects and series concepts for major broadcast and cable networks and syndication companies, and the company launched the hit series Wahlburgers, Donnie Loves Jenny, and Nightwatch. Daysun was also involved in the development of the upcoming BET/Centric series, According to Alex, and an HBO documentary produced in partnership with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson….
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