Bicoastal editorial shop Spot Welders has brought on Anna Rotholz as executive producer/head of development in its NYC office. Having served as a rep with Spot Welders early in her career, Rotholz brings over a decade of sales experience upon her return to the company. She has worked with directors, editors and designers at such shops as Believe Media, Uber Content, Imaginary Forces, Whitehouse Post, Union Editorial, Barking Owl Music, Independent Media, O Positive and Biscuit Filmworks. While studying at Hunter College, the advertising and production world quite literally found Rotholz, with independent rep Chris Zander plucking her from a receptionist job at a yoga studio to come on board as a front desk assistant. She traded a semester abroad for the opportunity to come on board as a sales assistant full time, to learn the ropes hands-on. She went on to land a jr. rep position at Ziegler Management, working for clients across production, postproduction and design. In 2009 she shifted in-house at Outside Edit + Design as head of sales. Rotholz soon thereafter found her way back to her roots, returning to The Family as a sr. rep, where she spent over five years. Most recently, she served as an in-house sales rep at Union Editorial before once again coming full circle to rejoin Spot Welders….
New York editorial shop BANDIT, formerly known as Fluid, has added Nicole Salm Feddock as head of development. She has over a decade of experience in production and business development for a wide range of production and postproduction companies. She kicked off her career lending her talents to top editorial and animation studios, including P.S. 260, Cut + Run and The Now Corporation. She transitioned into sales and creative development for Transistor Studios, simpatico, and most recently the design-driven production shop FCC.TV….
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