As global VFX company Method Studios, a Deluxe company, continues to expand its production capabilities worldwide, it has brought on veteran VFX and animation production executive Fiona Chilton as head of production in Sydney. In this new role reporting to Sydney general manager Jeannette Manifold, Chilton will lead all feature film VFX productions in Sydney, supporting and guiding artist and producer teams, continuing to build the studio’s roster of artistic talent, and ensuring seamless collaboration with Method’s global studios.
In a 20-year career in VFX and animation production, Chilton has led teams from 50 to 650 across global locations. Her more than 25 feature film credits include associate producer on The LEGO Ninjago Movie, and VFX producer/executive producer roles on Ted, Ted 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Iron Man, Happy Feet and more. The native Australian joins Method most recently from Animal Logic, and previously has held long tenures and leadership roles with VFX and animation studios all over the world, including Framestore/CFC, Tippet Studios, The Orphanage and Universal Pictures.
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