By BY MILLIE TAKAKI
HOLLYWOOD-David Naylor & Associates (DNA), a Hollywood-based commercial/music video house, has added Terry Heller to its directorial roster. Heller, best known for his clips work, had most recently been represented by bicoastal/international Propaganda Films.
Prior to his six-month stint at Propaganda, Heller maintained Clever Films, Los Angeles, from 1995 to early ’98. While at Clever, his credits included clips for Gangstarr’s "You Know My Steez," Monifah’s "You," Heavy D’s "Keep it Comin’," MC Gruff’s "This Is How We Do It" and Ghostface Killah’s "All That I Got Is You." He also directed a commercial for St. Ides Malt Liquor featuring hip-hop artists Method Man and Redman. While at Propaganda, Heller turned out a Pete Rock video entitled "True Master."
At DNA, Heller will collaborate extensively with the shop’s music video exec. producer Sam Aslanian, a prime factor in Heller’s decision to join the company. At press time, Heller was in prepro on a DJ Quick video.
Heller broke into the music industry as an artist’s rep for Eazy E’s Ruthless Records, Los Angeles. While there, he cultivated an interest in directing, a discipline he pursued at Rat Productions, Los Angeles, and then via Clever.
Heller joins a DNA directors lineup that includes Francis Lawrence, Liz Friedlander, Rocky Schenck, Thom Oliphant, Guy Guillet, Patrick Hoelck, Doug Pray, Marlene Rhein and Philip Dixon.
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