VP/director of content production
CP+B
1) More and more clients have incorporated in-house production capabilities, while others are simply getting savvier with production in general, creating even more competition in our world. Agencies need to evolve to show they are actually better, smarter, faster, and cheaper than the alternative in order to survive. This will require smarter staffing plans, clearly defined roles (hybrid roles and/or multi-taskers), and confidence with clients.
2) I actually cried when I first saw Google’s “Year in Search”. The highly relevant piece was just so well edited with the perfect balance of highlights to lowlights. It left me feeling hopeful and connected to people with the same mindset of moving forward.
3) I was so impressed by Nike’s “Breaking2”. Seeing amazing athletes train to break a 2 hour marathon is entertaining in itself, but then watching them in the live marathon event was even better. Even though none of the competitors broke 2 hours, it proved that no one can deny that the sub 2 hour marathon is out of the realm of possibility any longer. There was a holistic campaign around the effort, the runners, and the innovation required to make it happen. I may be a little biased, because I am a marathon runner, but it sucked me in and for the first time ever, I’ll run my next marathon in Nike’s. I can’t wait for the documentary.
4) I think clients will continue to increase the amount of project work with agencies/production company direct, veering further from committing to an agency of record, thus creating highly competitive opportunity for everyone.
5) It tells us that ads with social purpose are most liked, impactful, and needed, at time when there is so much negativity and political unrest! Fearless Girl and Love Has No Labels were my favorites. Those executions were so smart.
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