COMPANY, headed by executive producers Robin Benson and Richard Goldstein, has signed director Michael Shapiro for commercial representation. Shapiro’s storytelling has recently been highlighted in work for GAP, Goodyear, SIRIUS, JCPenney and Bank Of America….Venice, Calif.-based branded and immersive storytelling studio OffAbbot has been launched. The new venture is led by executive producers Justin Towery and Scott Flor, with Adam Cohen named to serve as head of VR production. OffAbbot opens with a directorial lineup which includes Brendan Beachman, Julian Whatley, Jason Z. Wong, Ryan Pesecky, Andrea Ball, Matt Celia, Ryan Turner and Sabyn Mayfield. Celia recently wrapped a couple of projects for OffAbbot, including Paranormal Activity Seance, a 360 VR narrative horror story created as a co-branded production for gaming network IGN.com and for the on demand/digital HD release of the latest feature in the horror series Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension….San Francisco-headquartered Wikia, which recently launched entertainment website Fandom, has now opened an office in Santa Monica, Calif., featuring a video production facility. Anthony Cava heads up the new content studio and will serve as head of video. Eric Moro, who currently serves as VP of content for Wikia, will be based in the new office and spearhead all editorial content. Before joining Wikia, Moro was the editor in chief of the movies, TV, Blu-ray and DVD channels for entertainment website IGN.com. Moro said that the Southern California office enables Wikia to be closer to leading entertainment industry entities, opening up opportunities to partner with them….
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