Production studio Strike Anywhere has signed Malia James for spots and branded content in the U.S. This marks her first representation in the American ad market. She is handled by Lark Creative for music videos.
James is the first director signing for Strike Anywhere’s managing director Victoria Guenier who joined the company from previous posts as head of production at boutique agency Omelet and prior to that as director of content production at Deutsch in L.A. “I’m determined to use my years of experience to develop vibrant young talent,” said Guenier. “Malia represents the new guard, she understands how to push our field forward and tell the stories that resonate with people.”
James spent most of her post-adolescent life touring the world, first as a photographer, then as the bassist of bands like Dum Dum Girls and Marnie Stern, before finding her way back to her original goal of directing. Her background in music and performance allows her to see eye-to-eye with artists, which led James to helm music clips for such artist as Halsey, MØ, Troye Sivan, Dev Hynes, and Alessia Cara, James earned a nomination at the Brit Awards for Rita Ora’s “Let You Love Me.” Meanwhile a recent collaboration with Bishop Briggs, “Baby,” is in competition at this year’s SXSW. In 2018, James directed her debut short film, Blue Lips, which stars Tove Lo.
James’ knack for capturing realness in her subjects, stories, and locations has been a draw for advertising clients, yielding commercials for Bacardi, Bose, and adidas, among others. The Bose project entailed three spots produced by Vice. She also directed and photographed a campaign for Sephora. Her ability to meld genres shines through in her branded music video for MailChimp featuring VeilHymn, a musical collaboration between Devonte Hynes (Blood Orange) and Bryndon Cook (Starchild & The New Romantic). Shooting in Kingston, Jamaica for agency Droga5, James explored dance, production design, and retro aesthetics to build a surreal world that never actually existed. Years of touring makes her uniquely capable to shoot anywhere, while her photography background enables her to engage closely with DPs, articulating her vision in their language. Her photography book, “Girl in a Girl Band,” is due to be released at the end of 2019.
As for what drew her to Strike Anywhere, James said, “Production is a business of relationships. In a perfect world, a director wants to feel seen and understood by the people representing them. Within 30 minutes of sitting with Victoria, I felt comfortable trusting her to help navigate the next steps of my career.”
Strike Anywhere has its roots in storytelling. Co-founder Barry Jenkins, who’s no longer with Strike Anywhere, made his feature debut, Medicine for Melancholy, at the shop. Other prime entertainment projects out of Strike Anywhere have included Michael Jacobs’ lauded ESPN 30 for 30 films, Justin Barber’s feature Phoenix Forgotten distributed by 20th Century Fox, and Ryan Simon’s documentary The Black Jacket on Netflix.
James joins a Strike Anywhere directorial roster which includes Barber, Jacobs, Simon, Aaron Beckum and Matt Sklar.
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