Hillary Pitcher is joining Toronto-based studio The Juggernaut in the role of executive producer. Pitcher has extensive experience in production as well as sales and marketing at various houses and agencies, including Lowe Roche, Open and School Editing in Toronto, and Robin Frank Management in New York. Pitcher will play a key role as The Juggernaut expands its capabilities into full content production after 17 years as a postproduction/VFX house. The Juggernaut now represents a varied lineup of directors, DPs, designers, and creators including Mathew den Boer, Nigel McGinn, Nick Sewell, Cam Roden, comedy director Mark Mainguy and veteran director/DP Eric Yealland. The roster is supported by in-house editor and online artist Alec McKay. The roster expansion coincides with The Juggernaut’s move into its new downtown studio, a historic coach house near Kensington Market. The space, which is in the final stages of a rebuild by noted architects Francesca Piccaluga and Vis Sankrithi, features a fully equipped shooting space with load-in, editing and finishing suites, and an industrial kitchen designed to accommodate food and beverage shoots. The Juggernaut recently worked with Cronos Group to film the cannabis brand’s operations and growth facility; produced a live-action/animated national campaign for Molson with Rethink; worked with agency SOS to shoot and edit promotional pieces for Queen’s and Algoma universities; collaborated with forthcoming video-app Snibble on an animated brand video; produced a series of animated content for gaming giant Ubisoft; and shot and finished more than 80 beverage and recipe videos for Diageo. The Juggernaut was founded in 2002 by partners Patrick Fay (new business) and Craig Small (executive creative director)….
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