Approximately five weeks after Belden Inc. completed its acquisition of Snell Advanced Media (SAM), Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, is making big strides to combine SAM products and technology into its solution offering. The expanded Grass Valley portfolio leverages the best innovation and expertise from each company to give customers the ultimate in selection and service.
At NAB Show 2018, Grass Valley will highlight how the move has created a market-leading supplier with more resources and technology that will benefit professionals in embracing the exciting changes occurring throughout the broadcast industry.
“We acquired SAM to create a proven portfolio that helps our customers strengthen their operations,” stated Tim Shoulders, president, Grass Valley. “We have no plans to announce any additional acquisitions at NAB or in the near future. Our focus right now is to complete our product and solution integration strategy and deliver a superior level of service to our customers. While there has been some speculation about further consolidation in the market, it is not currently a focus for Grass Valley.”
At NAB, visitors to the Grass Valley booth, SL106, will see offerings from both the Grass Valley and SAM portfolios organized by key application areas; live production, news, content delivery and networking. The booth also will include a dedicated camera stage and a unique “Discovery Zone” that will feature a series of self-guided virtual tours of technology topics. A hospitality booth, SL1805, is located close by to serve as a spacious, relaxing meeting space for customers to meet with sales people, product managers and executives; gain insights about the acquisition; or network with peers.
“Hard work is being done behind the scenes to ensure that our customers get the maximum benefit out of this acquisition as fast as possible,” added Shoulders. “As former SAM products are rebranded as Grass Valley, we are assuring interoperability and extending in-region support for all users. We are excited about getting to NAB to showcase our extended capabilities—when you bring two leaders together like this, it’s a win for everyone.”
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