Deluxe Entertainment Services Group (Deluxe) has announced that Chris Holt has been appointed to the new role of EVP, global operations, and Mark Smirnoff has been hired as EVP, sales for the Post-Production unit led by president William Sherak and chief operating officer Mike Gunter.
In making the announcement, Gunter said, “With Chris and Mark we have added two incredible talents to lead Deluxe Post-Production. William and I are thrilled that they are on the team that will lead us in the successes we see ahead.”
Holt most recently served as SVP and general manager for the division and previously held that position at Company 3 in Los Angeles. He has held executive positions at Sony Colorworks and Technicolor, and served as digital intermediate producer on feature films for Disney, Fox, and Universal. He will be responsible for the overall management and strategy for the global EFILM and Encore studios, as well as for the Deluxe Post-Production businesses in New York, London, and Toronto.
Smirnoff meanwhile reports to Holt and will lead the global sales teams at EFILM, Encore, Editpool, Level 3, EC3, Mobilabs, as well as the sales teams at Deluxe’s London, Toronto, and New York offices.
Smirnoff comes to Deluxe from Technicolor where he was VP of episodic services. He previously was president of creative services for Modern VideoFilm, and has served as the post executive in charge of many critically acclaimed feature and television projects.
Both Holt and Smirnoff will be based in Los Angeles.
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