DP Denson Baker, ACS, NZSC has joined U.K.’s Loop Talent for representation. Hailing from New Zealand and of Maori heritage, Baker has a body of work spanning feature films, music videos, documentaries and commercials. His recent endeavors include feature film The Colour Room starring Phoebe Dynevor and Matthew Goode; the BBC TV series The Luminaries featuring Eve Hewson and Eva Green; and the SKY TV series Domina with Kasia Smutniak, Claire Forlani and Isabella Rossellini. Baker’s talent has also graced projects such as: Ophelia with Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts; Measure of a Man with Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer and Luke Wilson; and the popular U.K. TV series Victoria. Honored with the 2021 Cinematographer of the Year Award by the Australian Cinematographers Society, Baker is accredited by both the Australian Cinematographers Society (since 2005) and the New Zealand Cinematographers Society (since 2015). Notable Loop Talent clients include production designer Declan Price (A Bit of Light, Matriarch, Kindling), costume designer Cathy Prior (Derry Girls, Sexy Beast, Stay Close), Emmy Award-winning hair and make-up designer Frances Hounsom (Magic Mike’s Last Dance, The Rising) and editor Galina Chakarova (Rain Dogs, Grime Kids). Recent Loop signings include hair and make-up designer Natalie Pateman, whose diverse array of projects spans courtroom dramas and period productions like the BAFTA-nominated BBC Ghosts. Pateman’s most recent endeavor includes the much anticipated adaptation of The Marlow Murder Club…
Costa Nikols has joined Riedel Communications, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of real-time video, audio, data, and communications networks, as VP of sales enablement for the global team. Nikols served as VP of global sales enablement at Grass Valley, where he helped guide the company through its transition from a hardware-based to a software-enabled brand. For over 20 years, Nikols held various leadership positions at Grass Valley and its acquisitions, including sr. product manager at Snell & Wilcox and sales engineering group manager at Miranda Technologies. For his role at Riedel, Nikols will be based in Montreal and report directly to Daniel Url, product division CCO…..
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