Production studio Florence has brought commercial and music video director Jake Dypka aboard its roster. This marks his first representation in the U.S. He is handled in the U.K. ad market by production house Agile.
Dypka found his love for filmmaking by directing martial arts DVDs for a publishing house in Chichester, England. After transitioning to commercial directing, Dypka quickly gained acclaim by winning the Young Directors Award at Cannes. Accolades continued to mount as he was selected to craft the opening film for the Saatchi New Directors Showcase in Cannes the following year. Dypka’s work engages the fantastical and integrates brilliantly stylized set design with dry wit and humor, resulting in a distinct narrative voice and style. He has worked with international brands including Swarovski, McLaren, WWF, Topshop and Lycra. His film With Hollie, a collaboration with British poet and spoken word artist Hollie McNish, explores the juxtaposition between the overexposure of breasts in the media and the outrage of mothers breastfeeding in public. An instant viral success, the film was viewed over 10 million times in the first week of its online release.
“I think tone is probably at the heart of a lot of my work. It wasn’t even a conscious thing; it just developed in a certain way as I became more confident expressing my own personality in the work I was making,” said Dypka. “Tone and visual storytelling is where I get my kicks, so the focus on film craft and excellence in commercial storytelling at Florence creates a highly-creative atmosphere, which is exactly where I want to be.”
Dypka’s additional commercial work includes “Clothes Love All Humans” for Klarna, where an eclectic cast of characters and a toe-tapping track combine in an infectious celebration of individuality and self-expression; a retro-inspired and cheeky film for Arla Fibre; and the infectious, quirky, and captivating “Who’s the Boss” for Sage, where understated wit and perfectly timed comedic delivery demonstrates that there’s a boss living in each of us.
“Jake is a masterful and captivating filmmaker,” said Jerad Anderson, founder/EP of the Los Angeles-based Florence. “His quick-witted, eccentric, and distinctive style brings a binge-worthy quality to his work.”
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