Editor Stewart Reeves, who continues to be handled in Australia by The Editors, Sydney, has lined up his first career U.S. representation, joining The Whitehouse, which maintains stateside shops in New York, Chicago and Santa Monica.
Currently based in Sydney, Reeves was born in the U.K. and trained at The Whitehouse in London through the early 1990s, assisting on such notable jobs as Levi’s “Drugstore,” Stella Artois “Last Orders” and Nike “Airport.”
He then moved over to the agency side of the business, joining Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam, as a producer, spending nearly three years producing commercials around the globe. Reeves eventually found himself back in the editor’s chair in Sydney and quickly established himself as a full-fledged cutter.
Relinking with The Whitehouse is akin to a return home, said Reeves whose recent editing credits include spots Down Under such as Acura’s “Shockwaves,” Bonds’ “Cool Tea,” Kiwi’s “Believe It Or Not,” Toyota’s “Every Bit Brilliant” and Boags’ “Pure.” As am editor, he has developed a reputation for combining a keen rhythmic and visual sense with an eye for offbeat comedy.
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