London-based Above+Beyond, billed as the independent creative agency for the audience age, has appointed Ed Cox to the new role of media partner. He joins Above+Beyond from Havas, where he was the managing director of Forward Media, the agency Havas set up to manage the O2 business. Cox has an extensive background in media, data, and integrated communications as well as experience in building and developing agencies. He was managing partner at Arena Media, where he led data-rich and audience-centric accounts including Tesco Bank, LG, and Next, before becoming managing director of Forward Media and setting up Havas’ newest media offering, Fullsix Media, last year. The appointment follows Above+Beyond’s recruitment in May of creatives Ben da Costa and Nathalie Gordon, as the agency looks to break down the barriers between advertising and other entertainment and communications channels. Zaid Al-Zaidy is partner and chief executive of Above+Beyond….
Atlantic Records and Artist Partner Group have launched EMERGE, a groundbreaking nationwide, social media-driven search for exceptional teen pop/R&B talent. The companies have partnered with AEG Presents, Deckstar, ad agency Deutsch and Spotify in an unprecedented effort to find young artists with star potential, wherever they exist across the continent. In addition, this marks the first time that a music company, live concert organization, management company, marketing agency and digital music service have joined forces to both discover and provide world-class opportunities to emerging talent. EMERGE is accepting submissions from artists and musicians between the ages of 13 and 19, who are residents of the U.S. or Canada (excluding Quebec), beginning through Sunday, November 12. Complete details and instructions on how to enter can be found here. All entries will be reviewed by Atlantic A&R representatives, who will select the extraordinary artist or artists deserving of a major label contract….
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 โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ 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 โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ 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