Merman–the production company founded and run by Sharon Horgan (the Emmy-nominated creator of the Amazon series Catastrophe) and partner/producer Clelia Mountford–has launched Mermade, a digital arm which will specialize in the creation of non-broadcast content of all shapes and sizes, funded by and for social and streaming platforms, brands and publishers, with a particular focus on short-form episodic.
“Mermade gives creators control over their output, fostering new and original voices with subject matter that is not bound to convention,” explained Horgan. “The digital space allows us to create a format that fits the idea, instead of creating an idea to fit the format. The idea comes first. It’s about working with diverse creators and blurring the lines between TV, film and branded entertainment.”
The development of Mermade follows the 2017 expansion of the London-based Merman into L.A. and New York, and the launch of its branded entertainment and advertising division in both the U.S. and U.K. Merman global managing partners Jeremy Rainbird in London and Kira Carstensen in Los Angeles will run Mermade, alongside Horgan and Mountford.
“Mermade is very much an extension of Merman,” commented Carstensen. “We make scripted and non-scripted premium short form episodic entertainment, brand-funded and beyond, for audiences who consume their content online and who are attracted to the truthful and irreverent shows they have come to expect from the Merman brand.”
The board of Mermade in the U.S. and U.K. is bolstered by the addition of non-executive directors Rene Rechtman and Dan’l Hewitt, both formerly of Maker Studios/Disney.
In the U.K., former Channel 4 and All4 commissioning editor Joshua Buckingham has joined as U.K. managing director.
“We are already working with an electric mix of writers, performers and directors and with them we want to embrace the way audiences actually consume content and innovate storytelling accordingly.” noted Buckingham.
The development director USA is Melanie Donkers, who joins the Mermade USA team from Pulse Films and Fullscreen where she was in digital development.
In addition to the lauded Catastrophe in which she co-writes and co-stars with co-creator Rob Delaney, Horgan is creator and EP of Divorce (HBO) and co-creator of Motherland (BBC Two, Sundance). Earlier this year Amazon Studios entered into a two-year overall deal with Horgan. Merman also signed a first-look deal with Amazon. Per this arrangement, Amazon Studios gets first-look rights to Merman concepts to which Horgan is attached and remake rights to Merman-produced television series.
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