Writer, director and artist Michael Haussman has joined VANDAL–the company founded by director Francis Lawrence and producer Heather Heller–for commercials, music videos, and branded content in the U.S. As a music video director, Haussman has created a canon of music videos featuring the likes of Justin Timberlake, Chemical Brothers, and Kanye West, garnering numerous honors, including six MTV Video Music Awards and a Museum of Modern Art Award. In the commercial arena, Haussman has distinguished himself with high-profile ad campaigns for Levi’s, Diesel, Absolut, BMW, Yves Saint Laurent, Guinness, and more. VANDAL will produce new work in association with Haussman’s Person Films, the global production company behind many of the director’s acclaimed longform projects such as Do Not Disturb and The Audition, and commercials for Bulgari, Roger Vivier, Tods, Volvo, Fiat, and Hagenhas; Person Films also serves as leading service company in Italy.
Haussman recently completed the feature film Edge Of The World (formerly titled Rajah), starring John Rhys Myers. The film is being distributed in the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films and is based on the true story of James Brooke, the inspiration behind Rudyard Kipling’s "The Man Who Would Be King" and Joseph Conrad’s "Lord Jim" and "Heart Of Darkness."
“I believe it is important to keep a balance between films, commercials, music videos and the fine arts, as this cross-pollination of creativity constantly brings a fresh approach to each medium,” said Haussman, whose past films include Rhinoceros Hunting In Budapest, starring Nick Cave, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; Blind Horizon, starring Sam Shepard; The Unsinkable Henry Morgan, which also premiered at Sundance; and The Audition, which premiered at The Venice International Film Festival. To date, Haussman has won six international film festivals. Do Not Disturb, the anthology series he created, wrote, directed, and produced with Jude Law, was officially selected for the Cannes Series Festival 2019.
“Michael has the ability to weave natural performances into delicately told stories, across multiple media,” Heller assessed. “He is the kind of artist we had in mind when we created VANDAL.”
Haussman joins a VANDAL directorial roster consisting of Lawrence, director/screenwriter Scott Cooper, director/photographer Sharif Hamza, director/photographer Patrick Hoelck, director Munachi Osegbu, multi-hyphenate Steve Pink, director/photographer Eugenio Recuenco, director Jesse Salto, directing duo SKNX.TV, writer/director Gene Stupnitsky, director Eli Sverdlov, and director Jean-Claude Thibaut.
VANDAL is represented by head of global sales Carl Forsberg and sr. agent Justin Lassoff (Apostle) on the East Coast, Sarah Gittersonke (SGP Partners) in the Midwest, Julie Koellner (Remedy Reps) in Texas, and Deirdre Rymer Rivard (Blush Creative) and Lisa Gimenez (Lisa G & Company) on the West Coast. Tommy Labuda (Labuda Reps) handles VANDAL for music videos. Estelle Leeds reps Osegbu and SKNX on the commercial and content fronts.
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