John Benson has joined production company Arts & Sciences as executive producer, development and special projects in New York.
The former Honey Badger founder, and digital director for clothing label Band of Outsiders brings a multi-faceted skillset to Arts & Sciences, having recently worked across PR, marketing, advertising and commercial production.
At Arts & Sciences, Benson will concentrate on special projects spanning digital, design and social media as well as broadcast projects and music videos. He also extends the Los Angeles-based shop’s presence to the East Coast and will liaise with the company’s New York-based directors, as well as recruit new creative talent.
“The fact that John is an executive producer who can work across an array of projects for any platform is of huge value to us,” said Mal Ward, managing director and partner, Arts & Sciences. “John’s skillset, tastes and eye for new talent makes him a perfect fit.”
Benson is currently working on a confidential project with Mullen and directing duo Co.Lab.
Benson most recently led the New York office of experiential PR agency Exposure. Prior to that, he was the digital director for Band of Outsiders, overseeing the clothing label’s e-commerce site. He also co-founded the Los Angeles-based boutique commercial shop Honey Badger.
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