Matt Miller, formerly VP, creative director at Leo Burnett,. Chicago, will be joining BBDO San Francisco as executive creative director. He will partner with Steve Rutter to oversee the Wells Fargo creative account. Executive creative director Craig Mangan will continue to lead creative for BBDO SF.
At Burnett, Miller first gained the industry’s attention as the original creator of the Allstate “Mayhem” campaign. Since then he has continued to create business-driving, award-winning fare across the agency’s client roster including work done for Secret’s “Mean Stinks” campaign and Hallmark’s “Life’s a Special Occasion.” His work has been recognized by Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show and the Clios, among others. Miller began his career as a copywriter at Rare Method, Salt Lake City.
“Like insurance was five to ten years ago or telecom before that, I believe banking is the next industry poised to do incredible work,” commented Miller “The opportunity to help steer Wells Fargo, one of the most iconic brands in that industry, is a gift.”
Miller is the latest senior hire to be joining BBDO San Francisco, which won Wells Fargo earlier this year. Other notable hires include Kevin Thompson and Heidi Keel, who joined the agency this month as creative director and strategy director, respectively.
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