Flesh and Bones–the boutique production company recently launched by exec producer Rob Traill, former partner and live-action EP at Detour Films, and commercial director Tony Benna, former creative director at Mekanism–has added directors Oh Yeah Wow and Kevin Antoine to its roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials, branded content and music videos.
Darcy Prendergast, aka Oh Yeah Wow, is a multifaceted director, animator and writer who, building upon his humble origins in stop-motion and clay animation, co-founded the Australian production, VFX, and animation collective Oh Yeah Wow.
When Benna connected with Oh Yeah Wow, they clicked straight away, given that they both started out in stop-motion. “I just want to make art and grow, a philosophy Flesh and Bones align with me on,” said Oh Yeah Wow. “Their ethos reflects my own insatiable thirst to make art. I’m never not inspired, and these guys are never not driven. It’s a brilliant combination.”
Oh Yeah Wow has helmed work for musicians such as Gotye, Neil Young, J. Cole, and Green Day. The director’s “Time to Go” video for Wax Tailor featuring Aloe Blacc told the tale of a magical octopus toy which can turn things blue with its touch, Oh Yeah Wow shot the piece guerrilla-style, capturing two puppets and two cameras in the middle of winter, painting public property completely blue sans permission.
Winner of the 2018 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts pitch, Oh Yeah Wow helmed the AACTA-nominated “Monster’s Playground” and is the creator of the Nickelodeon miniseries Supa Phresh. His films have screened at SXSW, Annecy International Animation Festival, Sydney Film Festival, and the Guggenheim Museum. Having amassed 14 Vimeo Staff Picks, Oh Yeah Wow was previously represented by Caviar in the U.S., and is currently repped by Birth in France and Caviar in Belgium.
Kevin Antoine
Antoine is a director, art director, and illustrator who has been creating moving pictures for almost 10 years. Flesh and Bones becomes the first production company to represent him in the U.S. ad market. Raised in Belgium, he began his career as a freelance graphic designer. Ever curious, he continued lifting the proverbial stones in order to find the hidden treasures underneath, leading to his evolution into advertising, working first as an art director and then as an editor.
His background in animation and illustration allows him to bring energy and a graphic aspect to his films. Antoine has thrived in the spaces where his many skills overlap and converge, even finding a niche in the food advertising space with work for Godiva, Orpheé Vodka, and Pierre Balthazar’s The Restaurant in Brussels. Throughout his career, he has been simultaneously creating brand content, visual designs, and illustrations, deftly shifting between mediums to realize his full artistic vision.
The creative diversity that Antoine has honed over the years has enabled him to run almost all aspects of production. In joining Flesh and Bones, Antoine will be focused on kindling his creative spark by mixing various techniques and approaches–live action, animation, stop motion, photography–always mindful of balancing his striking visuals and graphic elements with story.
“As I’ve matured as a director I’ve been wanting to partner with a company led by people who truly understand what it means to invest in the art, and not be so concerned with the bottom line,” said Antoine. “Rob and Tony get it. I’m feeling very motivated by the opportunity to work with them and excited to see where this next step in my artistic journey leads.”
Internationally Antoine is repped in Brussels by Broadkat, in London by You Are Here Productions, in Amsterdam by MoreThanTV, and in Dubai by StokedFilms
Oh Yeah Wow and Antoine join a Flesh and Bones directorial roster which includes Benna, Aaron Ray, Bryce Wymer, The Gnar Gnar Honeys, and Adam Avilla. Flesh and Bones maintains bases of operation in Los Angeles and Charleston, South Carolina.
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