Bicoastal production company Rabbit has signed Emmy Award-winning director Ray Dillman for U.S. commercial representation. He had previously been handled by production house Wondros. Dillman won the Primetime Emmy back in 1999 for the NBC/snapchat.com commercial titled “New Friend.”
For over two decades Dillman has been known as an actor’s director with a distinct dramatic style, as seen in his work for such top brands as the U.S. Army, Kraft, Allstate, Bank of America, Sargento, Coca Cola, AARP, American Airlines and The Home Depot. He fuses his background as a creative director, his screenwriting experience and his design expertise to bring a collaborative and uniquely full spectrum approach to directing for brands.
Noted Rabbit EP Joby Barnhart, “Ray’s experience working on the agency side and deep understanding of every part of the creative process really brings a superior level of communication on set that allows for dynamic collaboration.”
Dillman said of his decision to join Rabbit, “I really like the broad range of work that they take on as a company and with my background as a creative director, I really like that they are going after a lot of brand direct work.”
After studying Design/Illustration at the Ringling School of Art and Design, Dillman started his career on the agency side, working as a creative director at top global agencies including Leo Burnett. In 1991, he transferred his in-depth knowledge of the creative commercial process and his polished design aesthetic to shift into working as a director. Starting off at boutique shop Electric Avenue Films, he quickly built a strong reel encompassing dialogue-driven storytelling pieces that have earned noteworthy acclaim, including the aforementioned Emmy Award. Production company roosts for Dillman over the years have included GARTNER (which produced the Emmy winning “New Friend”), MJZ and Avion Films. In addition to his commercial work, Dillman is currently in development on several feature projects, including a film for his original screenplay “Unmanned Warfare” originally set up with Spielberg’s longtime collaborators The Kennedy/Marshall Company and now the subject of talks with Amazon Films.
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