Deluxe Creative Services CEO Stefan Sonnenfeld today announced the promotion of Morgan Strauss to managing director of Encore, and Stephanie Rezentes as managing director of Level 3 Post. The promotions are part of an ongoing initiative to streamline operations across companies under the Deluxe Creative Services umbrella including Beast, Company 3, EFILM, Encore, Level 3 Post, and Method Studios.
Strauss has been with Encore since 2001, most recently serving as sr. VP for operations, where he oversaw workflow design and IT in addition to business development and strategy. Working out of Encore’s Hollywood facility, Strauss will be the point person for all of Encore’s locations across North America and Europe. With a wealth of hands-on experience in episodic TV, having managed projects like Deadwood and Curb Your Enthusiasm for Encore, Strauss’ efforts will further cement Encore as a leader in 4K post production and VFX for TV, commercials, and features.
Rezentes, a nine-year veteran at Level 3 Post, has served as postproduction coordinator, operations manager, and most recently director of production. She has been integral to building Level 3’s reputation for delivering top-quality TV and film postproduction ahead of deadline. Rezentes will be based out of Level 3’s studio in Burbank and will be in regular contact with Strauss and the larger Deluxe Creative Services network.
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