Feature filmmaker Cameron Crowe (e.g., Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) has wrapped a commercial for The Gap, produced by The Industry, a bicoastal house that specializes in securing select spot assignments for longform directors. The Industry is a sister shop to bicoastal Moxie Pictures….Matt Goodman, who directs ESPN2’s popular Tony Hawk series, and Dave England, one of the original creators of MTV’s Jackass, have come aboard production house Crova, Portland, Ore., and Los Angeles, for representation as spot directors….Creative editor David Mester has joined The Blue Rock Editing Company, New York. Mester comes over from Rhinoceros Editorial, New York. The audio division of Blue Rock, Blast Digital, New York, headed by sound designer/mixer Joe O’Connell, has added Chris Fina, formerly of National Sound, New York, as associate sound designer/mixer….Director Christopher Erskin has joined Los Angeles-based spot/music video production company Legacy Films…. Matt Silver, formerly an assistant editor at Go Robot!, New York, has relocated to the West Coast and become a staff editor at Rex Edit, Venice, Calif. He becomes the second cutter at Rex Edit, joining Bill Marmor….Kandoo Films, a Los Angeles-based production company specializing in creative advertising services and promotional services for the entertainment industry, has launched a music video division. The new entity has signed music clips vet Jim Yukich as its first director…Editor C. Scott Gorman has come aboard New York-headquartered Northern Lights Post. Gorman has been working as an editor and producer at MTV…Composer Matt Walker, former percussionist for bands The Smashing Pumpkins and Filter, has signed with Spank! Music and Sound Design, Chicago….Director Martin Shewchuck of Radke Films, Toronto, has returned to the agency side of the business, having been named executive VP/executive creative director at J. Walter Thompson, Toronto….Ayer is being absorbed by The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York. The two agencies share a parent com-pany, the Bcom3 Group….
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More