Nexus Studios has added director Mike Anderson to its roster for global representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Self-described as a blessed and cursed jack-of-all-trades, Anderson started his journey as a painter and set designer. His work includes high-profile music videos for DJ Steve Aoki and indie artist Ashnikko, along with standout original content. Co-created with Ryan Dickie, his acclaimed series Good Morning, Pickles! and animated short Hot Future blend traditional craftsmanship with advanced technology. In Good Morning, Pickles! he hand-painted clay characters, 3D scanned and integrated them into Unreal Engine, earning recognition in the The New York Times and Animation World Network. Hot Future is a post-apocalyptic world driven by dance, celebrated for its clever parodies, witty humor, and captivating choreography. Utilizing motion capture and real-time textured CG to enhance the comedic dance sequences and forge its distinctive visual style.
Anderson has garnered industry recognition in the form of two Cannes YDA Awards, a D&AD Graphite Pencil in Animation, and Vimeo’s Best of 2017 award for his work on “The Giant,” along with a 2018 Webby Nomination. His work has received nine Vimeo Staff Picks and two UK Music Video Award nominations. Additionally, Anderson has further refined his craft through fellowships at Ox-Bow, Arkansas Arts Council, and Make House. With a comedy talent hosted at Adult Swim and FXX, Anderson captures today’s diverse visual, social, and technical landscapes, exhibiting an acumen for character creation while traipsing between digital cutting edge gaming aesthetics and handcrafted traditional animation.
Anderson was directing freelance most recently before signing with Nexus. Earlier he was repped as part of a trio (with Dickie and Abigal Horton) by New Media Ltd. in the U.S.
“Mike has a great talent for creating contemporary aesthetics in animation, alongside a unique comedy sensibility. He really understands the new frontiers of animated storytelling, while his ambitions for the technologies and platforms driving creative opportunities make him a powerful addition to the roster,” said Chris O’Reilly, co-founder and chief creative officer of Nexus Studios, which maintains studios in London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
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