At press time, the U.S. House of Representatives had approved and sent a national parks and federal lands filming bill to President Clinton, who is expected to sign the measure into law.A.Bicoastal Straw Dogs has signed director Stan Morse for commercial representation. Morse has already wrapped his first ad assignment, a series of Coors Light spots out of FCB, ChicagoA.Director Peter Martinez, formerly of bicoastal/international The End, has opened New York-based production house Urban Myth MediaA.Director Jay Torres has signed with bicoastal WildLife ManagementA.Director Phil Brown is slated to come aboard Metro Pictures, Marina del Rey, CalifA..Directors Glen Oden and Lior Har-Lev have joined Wall to Wall Films, New YorkA.San Francisco-based digital effects studio Radium has broadened into practical visual effects via a newly formed relationship with San Rafael, Calif.-based JexFXA.The Lookinglass Company, , Santa Monica and Chicago, has added editor Staci LeVan and senior producer Elizabeth Ryan to its West Coast officeA.Kelvin Duckett has been named CEO/president of MDS, a Hollywood-headquartered studio specializing in the creation of "Web-friendly" video. Duckett most recently served as president of Medialab, overseeing motion capture studios in Los Angeles and Paris. Duckett’s postproduction resume includes his having been a founding father of Southern California house 525, serving as executive VP worldwide for London-headquartered Virgin Digital Studios, and a stint as managing director of POP, Santa MonicaA.Tim Rollenhagen has been named VP/GM for Click 3X, Santa Monica. He was formerly VP of postproduction at bicoastal/international firm Pittard SullivanA.
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