Production Company to Keep an Eye On; Causeway Films
After watching The Babadook and Talk To Me, I noticed that both films were Australian. After some digging I found the one connection between them—not government related, was the production company, Causeway Films.
Founded by Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings (article from Screen Daily says Ceyton established the company while Jennings became an equal partner) produced their first film in 2014, The Babadook. The only other film produced by them that I have seen, is Talk To Me. On their website, which I will link at the bottom, they have a list of films they’ve produced that I will be taking a look into. Hopefully in Australia they are being congratulated, because in the US, I have heard nothing about them until I did my own research. I remember The Babadook becoming a hit when it first came out, no mention of Causeway Films. Then when Talk To Me became a sensation, the only praise I saw was for A24, the distributors. Sure, they have a good track record of high quality films, but they didn’t help create it, Causeway Films did. From what I can tell, at least on the horror side, they like to tell stories that could be real. They tell a compelling narrative of people having real problems, while also dealing with the supernatural; they take the real world and add a dash of the beyond.
Looking at this made me do some self-reflecting; this isn’t the first time I was really into Australian media. Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun, a comedy skit show for Netflix that had one season, but I was a big fan of. Egg (Ed) Helms of The Office is an executive producer and plays a role in the show. The actor who plays Homelander in The Boys is in it for a skit. Another show I watched on Netflix, but not made for, was called Fisk. A comedy show following a lawyer who finds work in probate law as her life is falling about. Sanspants Radio, a podcast network I was into when I first got into podcasts, focusing on comedy and humor. They do a lot of D&D stuff that helped keep the fire lit for me when I had no one to play with.
The shows and podcast showed me the humorous side of Australia, while Causeway Films has showed me the horror. While I do not know how I will feel about Causeway Films other produced movies, I am hopeful.
Causeway Films Film List
https://www.causewayfilms.com.au/films