Video production and post studio ELEMENT has added filmmaker Justin Liberman to its creative roster as a producer/director.
Liberman began his career in the feature world working under Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral) and David Mamet (House of Games, Heist) and was a shadow director on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. In 2014, he started directing commercials with acclaimed editor Judah-Lev Dickstein under the name Tank + Bunker. That duo earned a slot in SHOOT’s 2014 New Directors Showcase. Liberman’s commercial directing credits span such brands as Google, Remy Martin, Lonely Planet, and General Mills.
Liberman’s own narrative films have been screened and distributed internationally at film festivals and streaming platforms and have won over 25 festival awards and jury prizes. His latest film, Tobacco Burn, was sold to Gravitas Ventures and streams on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.F.A. in film directing from Columbia University.
Liberman is no stranger to ELEMENT having worked with the company as an executive producer and creative consultant in Nashville, Tenn. Now he has relocated to Boston and has joined the award-winning firm full-time.
Liberman said, “I’ve bounced around the country working for different production companies and I’m thrilled to now have a home here at ELEMENT. There is no irony here, no doubt, just focus and assurance. ELEMENT has cultivated and continuously curates an incredible band of filmmakers and I can’t think of a better group to be a part of.”
ELEMENT COO/executive producer Kristen Kearns said, “Justin brings a diverse range of skills where he is both efficient and highly creative. As the marketplace evolves, his ability to both produce and direct at a high level is a great fit to continue supporting our clients’ production needs.”
Eran Lobel, ELEMENT CEO/exec producer, said, “The demand for quality story-driven content continues to grow, and Justin helps us provide the very best to the market.”
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 โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ 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 โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ 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