Multiplatform integrated production company Tool of North America has signed director Leigh Marling whose work spans such brands as Pizza Hut, Smirnoff, Snickers, T-Mobile, Nissan, Bacardi, Nescafe, Comcast, Target, Living Social, Verizon, Hyundai and Wrigley’s. He has built a reputation for smart humor and inventive storytelling and design, winning various awards including Cannes Lions, The One Show Silver and Bronze Pencils, ADDYs and Clios.
Marling has also co-directed music videos for Fatboy Slim, New Order and Dirty Vegas. For the latter, he earned a Best Music Video Grammy nomination for “Days Go By.” Marling additionally co-directed The Avalanches’ single “Since I Left You” which went on to garner an MTV Europe Best Music Video Award.
“From our very first meeting, I was bowled over by Tool,” Marling said. “Not only are they an elite production company and leaders in their field, but I loved their drive and energy, as well as their evident commitment to embrace the future of creative communication in a fast changing media environment. As a committed artist and storyteller I couldn’t ask for a better partnership.”
Marling is the latest addition to Tool’s talent roster which is curated by Oliver Fuselier, managing partner, live action. Prior to joining Tool, Marling had most recently been handled in the U.S. by production house Persuade.
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