Jerk Store, the directing team consisting of Ben Weinberg and Pat Andrews, has joined the roster of Santa Monica-headquartered Tool. The duo had not been handled previously in the U.S. but continues to be repped in Canada by Steam Films. Jerk Store’s first project for Tool is a spot for Mattress Firm with agency Havas that launched earlier this month.
Weinberg and Andrews spent a combined 30 plus years as advertising creatives, honing their craft before making the switch to directing and teaming up as Jerk Store in 2016. Weinberg and Andrews have experience spanning several agencies in Canada, including Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB and Grip Limited. Their work as agency creatives earned a Cannes Silver Lion, recognition in The One Show, Marketing Gold, Bessie’s Gold and Best of Show, among other honors. As Jerk Store, they have directed commercials for clients such as Expedia, Orbitz, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Royal Bank of Canada.
“Jerk Store has a remarkable portfolio of work for a range of different, high-profile brand clients, and we’re excited to add their advertising genius to Tool’s live action division,” said Oliver Fuselier, managing partner at Tool. “Their reputation for taking bold actions and using sharp, witty storytelling to bring brands to life will help our clients build deeper connections with consumers.”
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