CLIENT
New Jersey State Aquarium.
PRODUCTION CO.
In the Wee hours,
Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Dan Hertzog, director/cameraman; James Mullady, executive producer; Anthony Mosa, producer; Terry Hayes, production manager. Shot on location in Studio City, Calif.
AGENCY
The Brownstein Group, Philadelphia.
John Gilbert, creative director; Tesia Barone, associate creative director/art director; Jim Walls, copywriter; Dan Hertzog, producer.
EDITORIAL
Brass Knuckles Editorial,
Venice, Calif.
Chris Gernon, offline editor; Bond Schoeffel, executive producer.
POST
Brass Knuckles Editorial.
Chris Gernon, online editor.
Bobine Video, Santa Monica.
Jais Thierry Lamaire, colorist.
AUDIO POST
Eleven, Santa Monica.
Jeff Payne, mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
Stimmung, Santa Monica.
Michael Anastasi, sound designer; Gulla Petursdottir, executive producer.
THE SPOTS
Four :15s feature children who, after visiting the New Jersey State Aquarium, quietly attempt to apply the things they’ve learned to their everyday lives. In "Teeth" a young girl looks at her open mouth in the bathroom mirror, finally deciding to try and brush her teeth with three toothbrushes. The super reads, "Sharks have 7 rows of teeth." "Breathe" features a girl holding her breath, as "Seals can hold their breath for 30 minutes" appears. A boy in bed struggles to keep his lids open as wide as possible in "Eyes," while "Parrotfish sleep with their eyes open" flashes onscreen. And "Shed" shows a boy taking his clothes off, piece by piece, in his backyard, to "Penguins shed every spring." The campaign features the tag line, "Keep them wondering."
Spots broke June 18.
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