Venice, Calif.-based production company Durable Goods has signed comedy director Nicholas Wenger for U.S. commercial representation. Wenger’s credits span such brands as Chevrolet, Virgin America, Porsche, Durex, AT&T, Staples and Johnny Walker. In addition to his commercial work, the L.A.-based Wenger also recently helmed the first season of Mack & Moxy, a kid’s TV show produced for PBS and Netflix. Montreal-born Wenger’s lifelong appreciation for the arts spanning theater, local broadcast TV and independent productions led him to earn a MFA degree from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He got started in the production space as an editor, cutting series for Fox Digital Studios and Netflix, among others. Driven by his passion for unique genres and creative storytelling opportunities, he built up his own reel, attracting the attention of MOFILM, winning a Durex commercial competition that led to a spot that aired internationally in nearly a dozen languages. He continued to helm commercial projects for a wide range of brands with the company, moving on to direct spots for the likes of Riotmaker and The Cortez Brothers….
Director Justin Barber has made his full-length feature debut, Phoenix Forgotten, produced by Ridley Scott and Cinelou Films. The psychological horror film tells the story of a documentary director searching for her brother and two other teens. They went missing in the desert on March 13, 1997, shortly after mysterious lights appeared in the skies over Phoenix, Arizona. Now, on the twentieth anniversary of their disappearance, unseen footage has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition. As a partner in production company Strike Anywhere (where he is represented for commercial work), Barber has helmed spots for Facebook, TaylorMade Golf, Pinterest, Southwest Airlines, and GE, among others….
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