Amsterdam-based HALAL has signed director Salomon Ligthelm for representation in the Netherlands spanning commercials and branded content. His ad representation in the rest of the world continues to be handled by production house Stink. In addition to being a Vimeo favorite, Ligthelm has compiled a body of work that includes campaigns for the likes of Audi, S7, Puma and Valvoline, garnering recognition at the Cannes lions, UKMVAs and Ciclope. Ligthelm’s first joint piece of work with HALAL is a global adidas campaign….
NY-based Dress Code has added hyper design-focused directing collective Snask to its roster for representation in the U.S. and Canada. Based in Sweden, Snask has a global creative following and is currently working on a production in the U.S. for an undisclosed yogurt brand….
Vancouver-headquartered interactive production studio Thinkingbox has acquired digital studio Welikesmall (WLS) in Salt Lake City, Utah. The newly combined multi-discipline experiential and design creative shop–now operating under the Thinkingbox banner–will be run by Thinkingbox CEO and founder, Amir Sahba. Meanwhile, Michael Kern and Paul Solomon, the founders of WLS, will take on the new titles of chief creative officer and chief technology officer, respectively. The deal expands the overall company’s reach to markets including Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City….
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