Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. (Deluxe) has bolstered artistic talent and production leadership in Chicago with several new hires and promotions across Deluxe’s Beast, Company 3 and Method Studios teams co-located in its Michigan Avenue facility to meet the growing demand for its services–particularly in the area of visual-effects-focused advertising content. Seasoned VFX producer Matthew Engel joins the Chicago team from Method Studios’ New York facility, along with newly hired designers Matt Fultz and Tobias Mattner. Additionally, Lauren Roth has been promoted to head of production for the overall Chicago studio across all three creative teams.
“Top brands and agencies are increasingly drawn to Chicago for national campaigns, and expect world-class services to support them. With this talent expansion we’re now better poised to serve their end-to-end post production needs,” said Peter Hullinger, general manager of Deluxe’s Chicago studio housing Beast, Company 3 and Method Studios. “Lauren is the backbone of our facility, and a wonderful client resource, and we’re excited about the contribution she can make in this expanded role. Bringing in Matt, Tobias and Matthew elevates what we’re able to deliver creatively on the VFX front.”
Recent high profile campaigns that Beast/Company3/Method in Chicago contributed to include Always: Like A Girl, Raid, Nike, State Farm, Wrigley, GMC, Timberland, and Nintendo.
Roth moves into the head of production role after serving as sr. producer for Beast, Company 3 and Method Chicago. Involved with these creative teams since 2010, her deep knowledge across their talent and offerings empowers her to provide clients with a seamless and personalized postproduction experience. With more than eight years working with the companies in New York, VFX producer Engel first managed projects for Company 3 before transitioning to the Method VFX team in 2014, where he focused on overseeing heavy VFX projects and guiding clients around VFX workflows, budgets and timelines. Designers Fultz and Mattner inject fresh, international perspectives into the Method creative brain trust.
Roth said, “Our clients love that they can come to one facility where a variety of talent across all three teams works seamlessly to achieve their specific visions. We have a boutique feel, but our resources extend internationally, allowing us to scale up or down to take on projects of any scope.”
Additional promotions in Chicago that further scale the companies’ ability to service its growing client base include Joel Signer to producer, and Claire Smalley and Tara Reeves to production coordinators; Company 3 has also brought in an additional color assistant, Zachary Korpi.
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