Director Rod Blackhurst has signed with bicoastal The Famous Group for spots and brand content. Blackhurst’s first feature Here Alone won an audience award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Next month his Netflix Original documentary Amanda Knox will premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. Blackhurst is probably best known in the ad industry for his recent branding campaign for Airbnb,,,.
New York-based production studio Sibling Rivalry has added Gerald Ding to its directorial roster. Ding has helmed spots for brands such as Apple (“Loved”), Google (Android “Handshake”), Nike, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Gillette, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Samsung and Converse. He has also worked with musical artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend and Kid Cudi….
Cast & Crew Entertainment Services has completed its previously announced acquisition of CAPS Payroll, a leading payroll provider spanning multiple entertainment markets including commercial production, venues, music tours, live events, unscripted television and independent film. As previously disclosed, Silver Lake, the global technology investing leader and controlling shareholder of Cast & Crew, committed substantial additional equity to fund the acquisition and support Cast & Crew’s continued growth. Following its acquisition by Silver Lake in mid-2015, Cast & Crew has accelerated investments to extend its technology leadership and to strategically align itself for the industry’s digital future. In addition to the acquisition of CAPS, itself a technology pioneer in the entertainment subsectors it serves, Cast & Crew’s other recent investments include the release of new and advanced digital workflow solutions and the acquisition of screenwriting software leader Final Draft, Inc….
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