Director Paul Riccio has joined The Traveling Picture Show Company (TPSC) for exclusive representation. Riccio had previously been handled by Sandwick Media for spots and branded content.
Riccio’s short film The Timmy Brothers–Water Makers was recently featured at the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival as well as in a New York Times article. A witty and dry portrait of Bill and Terry Timmy, Brooklyn-based hipster water makers, the tongue-in-cheek film has been recognized worldwide, covered on NPR, studied in a business class at the University of Michigan, and is the basis of a Harvard student’s MBA thesis.
Another Riccio film, Space Cadet about a daydreaming teen and his pothead parents, was a Best Narrative Short nominee at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013. Additionally the director’s short 8,336,615 was a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Riccio has turned out notable content for such brands as PBS, Funny or Die, Verizon, NASDAQ and the NBA. Along the way his work has garnered honors at The One Show, Cannes Lions, and an Emmy.
Known for his comedy-based dialogue expertise, Riccio brings to TPSC an elevated sense of humor and a diversified background. He is a highly productive writer with a knack for improv and bringing out the best in his actors. “Part of what I love about filmmaking is the roll-up-your-sleeves aspect to it. Everyone having one direction and one goal: to make something really great and entertaining,” said Riccio.
Dawn Clarke, TPSC’s EP/head of sales, said of Riccio, “He’s an amazing talent, so skilled in performance direction. He’s also got a wonderful comedic sensibility mixed with an incredible attention to detail. His work and easy going, collaborative personality really jibes with TPSC’s creative direction.”
Riccio joins a TPSC directorial roster which includes Gus Black, Chris Woods, PR Brown, Justin Shipley, Julian Pugsley, and Paul Street. TPSC is headed by EP John Noble and Clarke. The company is represented by MoButler Reps in the Midwest, Asprodites Reps in the Southeast/Southwest, and Schaffer/Rodgers on the East Coast.
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