Mexico City-based production company KIDS has added Antonio Riestra, ASC to its roster of directors. Riestra is known for his work as a cinematographer which has taken him worldwide. He has lensed films ranging from Lidice which was nominated for a Czech Lion, to Kathmandu Lullaby filmed in Nepal, Last Knights with Morgan Freeman, and Mama produced in Hollywood. Riestra earned a Goya Award and a Gaudi Award for Best Cinematography on the strength of Black Bread. In addition to his narrative film work, Riestra has a career in commercials which has seen him shoot campaigns for such brands as Dodge, Fiat, Cerruit, and Beats by Dre….
Engine Group North American CEO Rick Eiserman has announced new executive leadership for content creation and entertainment marketing agency Trailer Park Inc. Zihla Salinas has been appointed CEO of Trailer Park Group and Matt Brubaker has been promoted to CEO and creative director of the Trailer Park Film Entertainment Division. Both Salinas and Brubaker will report to Eiserman. Salinas will oversee the vision and direction of Trailer Park Group’s business and integrated offering across the company’s divisions. She joins from Doner LA where she was EVP and managing director. As president of Trailer Park’s Film Division for the past decade, Brubaker has created cutting-edge content spanning theatrical, Broadway and home entertainment. Renowned in the entertainment marketing industry, Brubaker has contributed to massive growth at Trailer Park and to it garnering industry accolades, such as recently being named CLIO Entertainment Agency of the Year. He has worked on award-winning campaigns, including for Dunkirk, Baby Driver, Interstellar, Mad Max, Suicide Squad, The Dark Knight Rises, The Great Gatsby, Godzilla and Ocean’s Eleven. Prior to Trailer Park, Brubaker was a creative executive at New Line Cinema and at Warner Bros….
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