Director Marcus Nispel has joined production house GARTNER for commercials in the U.S. He comes over from Tool of North America and earlier had a long tenure at MJZ. Nispel’s body of work spans assorted spots (Mercedes-Benz, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Nike, Levi’s, L’Oreal, and honors at the AICP Show, Clio, ADC), music videos (Elton John, Puff Daddy), TV (a two-hour Frankenstein pilot exec produced by Martin Scorsese for USA Network) and features, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Pathfinder (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and Conan the Barbarian (2011). Nispel is currently working on another theatrical movie, Backmask.
In addition to joining GARTNER for spots, Nispel has been the driving force behind the formation of Stone Soup Content along with founder/executive producer Don Block of GARTNER. Stone Soup will focus on transmedia storytelling and branded long form.
Nispel said, “I did not make it easy on myself when I was looking for the perfect partner for my current ambitions. My background has encompassed design and visual effects, commercials, music videos, features and television. I really wanted to help create an outlet where all of these traits could get combined…it’s all about good storytelling in the end. I was looking for a partner that has a long history of understanding and adapting in our ever-changing business and is in it for the long run. In Don and GARTNER, I found somebody who shares my vision that traditional media alone is no longer enough. We must provide the full picture, especially since long form and branded content now play such a huge part in all of our lives. We’ve spent the last months conceiving a smart full service division that allows us to deliver high end production values on any budget in concert with a vast network of associates and resources.”
Block shared, “When Marcus and I first met we talked for hours about the state of the industry, its challenges and opportunities. It was immediately apparent to me that I was dealing with a giant conceptual thinker and designer and that forming a vehicle in which we could apply his thinking and experiences as well as that of the other GARTNER directors in the area of long form creation and execution would be a remarkable resource for the industry today.”
Stone Soup will engage in all facets of the entertainment content process including conception/creation, writing, financing, production, marketing and selling, resulting in full stand-alone programs that are designed to carry targeted advertising and brands. Stone Soup is already developing product for the Food Network, Comedy Central, Home and Garden Network, Discovery Channel and MTV.
Block noted that Stone Soup will function as a hub or watering hole for not only Nispel and the other GARTNER directors, but also for associates in the advertising world, the postproduction community and independent artists. “Stone Soup is very much an open source branded long form endeavor,” affirmed Block.
Block added, “I think what we’re contemplating here can go a very long way in addressing the creative and financial needs of many of our clients today. We are not just about producing impeccable work but very much about affordable problem solving. It’s a holistic approach that would be driving this hybrid and that will be promoted on all fronts. We have spent several months sourcing and dialoguing with both production and postproduction resources here and abroad that will enable us to produce great programs at non-commercial rates.”
Nispel said he was drawn to Block and Oritte Bendory, GARTNER’s executive producer, VP marketing, for their and the company’s philosophy and “long-term vision of the bigger picture.”
At GARTNER, Nispel joins a directorial roster that includes James Gartner, Raymond Bark, Mike Bigelow, David Cornell, David Serota, Ben Gordon, Terry Rietta, Andrea Buchanan, and Gavin James.
Paradigm will represent Nispel for film and television.
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