Bicoastal music shop Elias has partnered with Sonzia to provide comprehensive audio for their suite of therapeutic software. The Boston-based startup technology company seeks to make the digital world accessible to those of all abilities. Elias will join Sonzia’s team of experts in technology, education and the arts to deliver their three decades worth of award-winning experience in the music industry, giving a voice to Sonzia’s healing digital products.
“Elias is very proud and honored to partner with Sonzia on its quest to make digital content fully accessible to those with Sensory Processing Disorder,” said Elias CFO Glenn Turell. “To know that our custom-developed and expertly vetted audio and sound design will be helping those with autism and other disabilities is truly rewarding. We look forward to launching many planned sensory initiatives with Sonzia, which will empower millions to use the technology that the rest of us generally take for granted.”
“As technology advances, the sensory world continues to isolate many differently abled people. Our focus is on being affordable and durable, because it takes more than technology to get to true accessibility–you need affordability,” said Shirley O’Neill, Sonzia’s founder and CEO.
Elias founder Jonathan Elias has been passionate about creating music that creates an impact on society since the company’s inception in 1980. Among various other projects and contributions, his 2011 album The Prayer Cycle 2: Path to Zero featured Sting, Robert Downey Jr., Korn’s Jonathan Davis, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, Angelique Kidjo, Yes’ Jon Anderson, and the late Jim Morrision and benefited anti-nuclear organization Global Zero. Additionally, Elias’ Santa Monica studio teamed up with hip hop beat artist Just Blaze in December 2012 for a concert fundraiser for The Students First Center of L.A.-based nonprofit New Visions Foundation that infuses the arts into the local juvenile justice system.
“We are not only excited about making music, but also by collaborating with other socially conscious individuals who are seeking innovative ways to make meaningful change in our world,” said Elias. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with a company such as Sonzia.”
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