Music and sound houses Squeak E. Clean Productions and Nylon Studios have merged to form Squeak E. Clean Studios, bringing together a diverse roster of artists offering musical talent and audio production to agencies and brands. The company fuses leadership from both former houses, with Nylon’s Hamish Macdonald as managing director, and Nylon’s Simon Lister and Squeak E. Clean’s Sam Spiegel overseeing the company’s creative vision as co-executive creative directors. Nylon’s founding partner David Gaddie serves as a strategy partner.
The new Squeak E. Clean Studios has absorbed and operates all the existing studios of the former companies in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Austin, Sydney and Melbourne. Clients can now access a full range of services in every studio, including original composition, sound design and mix, music licensing, artist partnerships, experiential and spatial sound and sonic branding. Clients will also be able to license tracks from a vast, consolidated music catalog.
New York-based executive producer Christina Carlo is transferring to the West Coast to lead the Los Angeles studio alongside Amanda Patterson as sr. producer. Deb Oh is executive producer of the New York studio, with Cindy Chao as head of sales. Squeak E. Clean Studios’ Sydney studio is led by executive creative producer Karla Henwood, Ceri Davies is executive producer of the Melbourne studio and Jocelyn Brown is leading the Chicago studio. Squeak E. Clean Studios is focused on empowering diverse and creative voices in their cross-Pacific pool of talented artists and leaders. The company is deeply committed to strong support of the Free the Bid initiative, with three full-time female staff composers already on the roster. Nylon’s roots Down Under also offer an expansive international reach in terms of talent for Squeak E. Clean Studios.
Macdonald commented, “This merger unites the inventive music work that Squeak E. Clean is famous for, with a focus on artist collaborations and vanguard compositions and the exceptional team of award-winning composers, sound designers, and mixers that Nylon Studios has assembled over its 17-year history. It has never been harder for brands to remain relevant and our goal at Squeak E. Clean Studios is to create music and sound that puts brands into the cultural bloodstream.”
Lister noted, “I always admired the ‘culture changing’ work that Squeak E. Clean Productions crafted-like the Adidas ‘Hello Tomorrow’ spot with Karen O and Spike Jonze’s ‘Kenzo World’ with Ape Drums (feat. Assassin). These are truly the kind of jobs that are not just famous in advertising, but are part of our popular culture.”
Spiegel added, “It’s exciting to be able to combine the revolutionary creativity of Squeak E. Clean with the outstanding post, creative music and exceptional client service that Nylon Studios has always offered at the highest level. We love what we do and this collaboration is going to be an amazing opportunity for all of our artists and clients. As a combined force we will make music and sound that people love.”
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 โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ 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 โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ 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