There are award winners, and then there’s Adam Henderson. The Dallas-based editor has not only seen work he’s cut for agencies and clients win advertising awards, but he’s pocketed a major one on his own, one with a $25,000 prize. And now he’s bringing the talent, passion and drive that earned him that bucket of cash to Treehouse Edit. Henderson’s signing was announced by Treehouse founder and editor Peter Tarter and EP Jeremy Besser.
Joining from Post Op in Dallas, Henderson has been editing since he joined the company in 2009 as an assistant. His reel includes spots in a range of styles for such clients as Motel 6, Hyundai, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, H-E-B, The Home Depot, and Poo-Pourri, the ‘before you go’ toilet spray marketed in cheeky ads and web shorts.
A major highlight came last year, when he entered Adobe’s “Make the Cut” contest. It called for entrants to take the music video for Imagine Dragon’s pop anthem “Believer” and re-imagine it, using nothing but Adobe Creative Cloud products. The competition received over 9,000 entries, and Henderson’s won.
To present the prize, Adobe pulled a fast one: they flew him to their headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and said he was one of the finalists, but when he arrived they surprised him with the news that he’d won, delivered by the band members themselves in a personal video made before his arrival. He was presented with a giant check (a $25,000 prize) and cheered by hundreds of Adobe employees.
While Henderson has nothing but praise for his time at Post Op, he added it was time to move on. “You can get too comfortable after a while, and I needed to be a little vulnerable in order to grow,” he offered. “Treehouse is a well-respected company that’s making a huge dent in the Dallas post community. Everything about them is positive, from their work to their vibe to their social media presence.”
Henderson met Tarter several years ago, and the two stayed in touch. “He’s a young, hip, very cool kid who was teaching me things technically,” Tarter admitted. “It was such a pleasure to talk with him. When we finished our recent build-out, we wanted to fill our new edit suite with someone who would complement our already great staff, and Adam was a natural choice. He really gives our bench an added layer of depth.”
Besser said that beyond Henderson’s qualifications–which includes his reel, his work ethic and his client relationships–the fact that he conquered all in “Make the Cut” speaks volumes about his character: “He’s exactly the type of person you want in your company, and that’s why we were so interested in signing him.” Added Tarter, “That was a hell of a task, and he came in first. He outwitted, outshined and out-edited everyone.”
Henderson’s joining Treehouse is the crowning part of an ongoing expansion that’s seen the studio open new rooms and add additional creative staff in recent months. Most recently, sr. engineer Eric Jenkins joined in February to lead Treehouse’s new audio post capabilities.
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