The Shipyard, an independent marketing consultancy, re-launches Revolocity with a new studio facility designed to apply equal doses of math and science to the art of its development and creation of multi-format content. The 6,000-square-foot interconnected studio and ideation space is located in Evergreen, Colorado. It was designed to accommodate the growing demand for content creation that has become a critical and often primary source of communication for brands, creating richer, more emotional connections with their target consumers. Revolocity was acquired by The Shipyard in February 2016. It develops and produces content campaigns with its group of specialists ranging from creative, production, talent casting and editing—deployed on hundreds, sometimes thousands of platforms. The company was founded by former Hatch Entertainment EP Mike Long and former Engauge CCO Michael Bednar. Long now serves as chief content officer and Bednar as CCO for both The Shipyard and Revolocity. The Shipyard was founded in 2013 by industry veteran Rick Milenthal, who was CEO of digital agency Engauge, now a part of Publicis Groupe. Shipyard also recently acquired West Coast ad agency O’Leary and Partners. Clients include AEP–American Electric Power, Arnold’s, Nature’s Harvest, Nationwide, Jibo, Scott’s, Fantastic Sam’s , WD 40, Orange County Credit Union and Co-op Financial services.
Former Jam3 EP Graham Budd has launched Quiver, a Toronto-based integrated production management company. Quiver’s family of shops includes specialists in interactive production and design, virtual reality and augmented reality, mobile games and apps, installations, live events, stunts, live-action and animation. The roster includes global companies such as Jam3, Plan8, Apollo, as well as Canadian shops 1One Productions, Globacore, Makers, Meld, VAPR, Morrison, IAM STATIC and Sugar Media. Quiver is currently working on projects with ad agencies Cheil Canada and Sid Lee and is producing a brand-integrated documentary series for Bell Media called Unclimbed, and presented by Jeep….
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