11 Dollar Bill has appointed René Steinkellner as executive producer at its Chicago studio. Steinkellner, who served as executive producer at FCB, Lord+Thomas, Chicago, for 12 years, will lead postproduction, business development and client relations.
Steinkellner knows 11 Dollar Bill well, having worked with the studio on several recent projects as a freelance producer. She brings deep experience in postproduction on both the agency and facility side.
At FCB Chicago, Steinkellner led Lord+Thomas Post, the agency’s in-house production/post unit. She built Lord+Thomas into a complete postproduction unit with editorial, sound, color correction and finishing capabilities and a staff of 40, including six in-house producers. The group produced broadcast, non-broadcast and digital media for Kmart, Michelob and other mainstay agency accounts.
Steinkellner’s strong ties to the Chicago-area advertising community are a huge asset as 11 Dollar Bill is enjoying a post-pandemic surge in new business. “René brings expertise and a stellar reputation,” observed executive producer/director of strategic partnerships Cannon Kinnard. “Her leadership skills are crucial to our ability to continue generating top-tier content for our diverse client base.”
A Chicago native, Steinkellner began her career with the boutique editing company NuWorld. Her background also includes seven years as executive producer/general manager at Outsider Post Production.
Steinkellner’s goals are to produce great work, help 11 Dollar Bill grow and nurture its team. “My focus throughout my career has been on people,” she explained. I want to see interns become senior editors. I want every employee to develop his or her talents and develop into the best creative they can be.”
With 11 Dollar Bill busy with advertising, corporate and entertainment projects, the company’s managing director Del Feltz expects Steinkellner to hit the ground running. “Our clients know René and trust her implicitly,” he said. “She’s done a great job in integrating with our staff. She understands our culture and shares our values. It’s a great fit.”
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