Punctuating a long, successful relationship that began in a freelance capacity, 2C Originals, the original content division of 2C Media, Inc., has appointed Mark S. Clark as its new head of development. The news was announced by the North Miami-based company’s co-founder, Chris Sloan, who looks forward to putting Clark’s varied skills to work in 2C’s unscripted world and beyond.
First tapped as a freelance editor/producer in 2005 (2C’s first year in business), Clark has assumed roles with increasing responsibility throughout the company’s 12-year growth. With his work spanning the launch of MyNetworkTV to integral roles in the promo campaigns for CNN, FOX, ABC Family, History, Science Channel, Comedy Central, Velocity and Animal Planet, Clark has served as a writer, editor, producer and director on more than 100 short- and long-form projects.
These projects aside, perhaps the most relevant aspect of Clark’s background is his role in developing four previous series with 2C, including Travel Channel’s Airport 24/7: Miami, which he co-executive produced and directed for three seasons.
“This series was truly like producing several unique shows at the same time, as we followed Customs and Border Protection, TSA, The Miami-Dade Police, Fire Rescue, airport staff and airline carriers with unprecedented access that we worked very hard to attain. It was a massive undertaking from development to series, and very rewarding.”
The other unscripted 2C series Clark helped to develop include CMT’s Danger Coast, WE tv’s A Stand Up Mother and Planet Green’s Future Food.
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