Tasha Dean has joined The Martin Agency as its new head of integrated content. She will report to Steve Humble, Martin’s chief operating officer. Working closely with creative, strategy and account leads, Dean will help bring customer journeys to life, impacting culture and driving growth for Martin’s clients. She will lead Martin’s digital production teams, content and production groups.
Dean began her career with Air Ambulance in Canada, flying alongside flight paramedics, filming accidents and disasters onsite and preparing content for an online paramedic e-learning system that she set up. From there she moved to Canadian agency Taxi where she worked in production, strategy and development. Within a few years she was running a production group. Next it was on to TBWA in Canada, then Chicago, followed by her most recent role of five years–running digital operations for TBWAChiatDay New York.
Dean’s client roster over the years includes global brands such as Nissan, Visa, Apple, Gatorade, McDonald’s, Michelin, Kraft, Johnson & Johnson, H&M, Travelers and Accenture. She has also received accolades from Cannes Lions, One Show, Webbys, Clios, ADDYs and London International Awards.
“Tasha is a force of nature,” said Humble. “Whether it’s creating a Star Wars Twitch experience, a mobile-first Facebook Live game of tag, or programming robots in the desert, her work is provocative, compelling and wakes people up.”
Dean said that The Martin Agency’s “leadership and work have grabbed and held my attention. Both continue to ask what if? I am honored to have the opportunity to help shape and grow a modern production collective.”
The hiring of Dean continues a series of moves made by new leadership at Martin. Most recently was the appointment of Kelsey Larus as director of strategic engagement for the agency’s Talent & Culture unit. Larus has an extensive background in strategic implementation having worked for the Obama administration, the Democratic National Convention and two presidential inaugurations.
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