Butter Music and Sound has launched a multicultural division, tapping Grammy-nominated musician and recording artist James Zavaleta as executive producer. The department will focus on music and audio solutions for the multicultural market, working closely with agencies and brands on campaigns crafted towards U.S. Latinx consumers. Zavaleta has partnered with agencies and brands as a consulting music producer on a range of branded projects, overseeing the entire audio process, from start to finish with an eye towards the authentic cultural representation of Latinx music. He is also an experienced and versatile singer, songwriter and producer, with credits ranging from singing on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, recording over 30 national jingles, and contributing voiceover musical work on Disney/Pixar’s Academy Award-winning film Coco. In the early days of stay-at-home measures, Zavaleta and Butter West Coast EP Annick Mayer developed the division, bringing his versatile experience as a musician to the commercial music space to offer original music, sync, and sound design services for multicultural campaigns. Born and raised in Southern California, Zavaleta developed singer/songwriter recognition as early as nine, and began playing gigs as far-flung as Las Vegas when he was just 14. As a sought-after performer in Los Angeles, he also performed as a back-up artist to legendary Salsa artists including Oscar De Leon, Tito Nieves, Victor Manuelle and more. His performances earned him television and film roles, performing on Eddie Murphy’s Meet Dave and an episode of FOX television series Prison Break, and earning a spot as a recurring vocalist on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Drawn to percussion at the young age of 3, he also taught himself to play the piano and, with this instrument as his medium, Zavaleta honed his personal “Latin Pop” style and released his debut self-titled EP in 2012. He first connected with Butter Music and Sound in 2012 while recording for a variety of commercials with the music and sound shop….
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