Toronto’s Westside Studio has added director Ryan Szulc (pronounced Schultz) to its roster. Based in Toronto, Szulc specializes in food and food culture, with a reel that includes work for brands including Boston Pizza, Casa Mendosa, President’s Choice and Maple Leaf Foods. The industry vet is known for his attention to detail and the ability to find the personality in food. Szulc has created a body of work that vividly reflects his philosophy of letting food do what it wants to do–whether it’s letting a cold drink sweat, cheese ooze from a burger, or ice cream melt down the side of a cone. Prior to joining Westside Studio, the director was repped by production house Sparks in Canada. He is not repped in the U.S. Introduced to photography by his late father, Szulc is also a highly regarded food photographer who has shot more than 50 cookbooks, many of which have gone on to win awards….
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