RSA has signed director Christopher Sims for U.S. representation in commercials and branded entertainment. RSA sister shop Black Dog will handle Sims for music videos.
Sims’ commercial work in which music and advertising collide include Usher and Pepsi for the MTV Video Music Awards; Miller Brewing Company’s spot featuring a live concert version of Sebastian Ingrosso’s Reload; Launch, the campaign for sports fitness company Hyperice featuring the Misfits’ Spinal Remains; and Beats By Dr. Dre’s spot featuring Serena Williams. Sims also has to his credit jobs for global brands including Asahi, Hyundai, Gucci, Best Buy, Berkshire Hathaway, Sea Shepherd, and Samsung.
Sims’ diverse work as a filmmaker also includes directing a dozen long-form documentaries and over 50 music videos for platinum artists including Usher, Ludacris, Avril Lavigne, Stone Temple Pilots, Keane, and NeYo. In 2012, he received the MVPA award for best R&B video of the year for Cassie’s King of Hearts video.
Prior to joining RSA and Black Dog, Sims was handled by DNA for spots and music videos.
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