Hostage Films has secured Ideal Partners for representation in the Midwest. Founded by industry vet Melissa Beth, Hostage Films is a commercial film production company that serves as the creative home to director Ruben Latre. Ideal Partners’ Tracy Bernard and Robin Stevens represent diverse talent to the advertising and marketing communities. Latre and Hostage Films’ advertising work includes commercials and brand films for Pfizer, Jim Beam, Samsung, HomeGoods, Ghirardelli and Verizon….
Agency veteran Mike Wilmot has joined Boston-based creative and production company Conductor–headed by CEO Noah Lydiard–as head of growth and relationships. Wilmot will be helping Conductor scale with targeted outreach and a sharpened narrative around its business model, while also driving deeper partnerships with existing and new clients. Prior to joining Conductor, Wilmot spent five plus years with Zozimus as EVP, director of client relationships. Before that he spent six years as director of client services with Breakaway, a firm that invents, reinvents and reinvigorates brands. Other agency experience includes account management positions with Modernista!, MMB, Lowe & Partners, Hal Riney & Partners, Hill Holliday and Arnold Worldwide….
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