Veteran executive producer Gianfilippo Pedrotti has joined Bully Pictures as VP and partner. Pedrotti, who arrives from BRW USA, a company he co-founded, will be responsible for recruiting directorial talent, developing new agency relationships in the United States and internationally, and implementing strategies for expansion and growth.
Pedrotti brings broad international experience, a proven record for developing directorial careers and keen insight into the advertising market, according to Bully Pictures founder and EP Jason Forest. Adding another executive producer will help Bully continue to build its directorial roster and explore new markets.
Pedrotti co-founded BRW USA as an affiliate of Milan-based BRW Filmland with Andrew Traines, Michele Nocchi and Marco Bussinello in 2009. He helped the company build its directorial roster and produce award-winning work for agencies in the U.S., Europe, and South America. He was successful in establishing U.S. careers for a number of European commercial filmmakers and has worked extensively on automotive accounts across the U.S. and Europe.
Pedrotti expects to bring several new directors into the Bully fold over the next few months. The company’s directorial roster includes Javier Aguilera, Dustin Lance Black, Knut Burgdorf, Fredrik Callinggard, Peter Care, Anne Fletcher, Rob Groenwold, Gaute Hesthagen, Dave Klaiber, Jonathan Nyquist, Justin Simien, Johan Stahl, Taylor Steele, Morten Tyldum, Tripp & Tyler, Marcus Ubungen and Erik Van Wyk.
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