Executive Producer
1606 Studio
1) 2019 is the year that all the promises of creative being freed up by technology has finally happened. With increased bandwidth and easy to use interfaces our industry is doing things faster than ever. I’m not sure that it is the best thing for all projects but it is certainly brought to bear on most of the work we are doing. Given the democratization of technology we find that creative ability is firmly in the forefront (thankfully).
3) None of the work we did this year was up for any of the major awards, but the biggest lesson learned from a very busy year is that it is more important than ever to define scope of work upfront. We work quite a bit with brands directly and we often find the final deliverables are considerably more than originally bid. To some degree this is a result of a wealth of riches resulting from a great shoot, but it also is true that there can be many cooks in the kitchen and we often find ourselves addressing creative and strategic concerns from all levels with brands.
4) I can’t project for the whole industry but I can speak about the San Francisco market with some specificity. SF continues to be a hot market, with a combo of Agencies and Brands providing work for companies like ours. This trend should continue into 2020, with a premium placed on companies that can scale up as needed to accommodate the needs of the job.
5) Big ideas rule. While we are proud of all the work we do it seems like it is the higher concept stuff that wins out. To my mind this has always been the case and I see no reason that it should/will change.
6) As an editing company we are dependent on building talent from within. From our client services folks all the way up to our senior editors we want to have people who are dedicated and immersed in the field. We always seek to find the best talent first but of course we also have an eye on diversity. We have always sought to make sure our company represents the community in which we live but in the past couple of years we have also found that our clients are demanding it. Free the Bid is a real thing and there are plenty of instances where we are asked by our clients about our policies regarding diversity are. This is a welcome trend.
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