Comedic filmmaker Owen Trevor has joined bicoastal Stink USA, just several months after coming aboard the roster of Stink in the U.K. Trevor, who recently relocated to the U.S., has a body of work which spans such clients as Volkswagen, Pep Boys, Centraal Beheer, Ford, McVities, Fiat, Wild Turkey, Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz.
Trevor initially shot shorts and music videos back home in Australia before directing the globally heralded TV show Top Gear for four seasons. Work on commercials and film followed.
An affinity for unique, offbeat comedy plays throughout Trevor’s reel, as seen in “Sweeet” for McVities, an adorable ad which sees animals emerge from packets of biscuits to literally evoke the sweetness of the British snack food brand. Meanwhile, an ability to mine for laughs in the most unlikely of places pays dividends for Trevor in “Assembly” for Walls when uptight representatives at a UN conference push buttons to express their opinions, instead succeeding at buzzing out the ‘80s hip-hop track “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa.
“Bird Up” for Wild Turkey is another comedic piece introducing us to heroes who have “stepped up” throughout history, such as hikers mounting Everest and astronauts golfing on the moon–all honored when their astronomical feats are achieved by receiving a glass of bourbon from a fluffy off-camera fowl.
Also of note is Pep Boys’ “Garage Band” featuring the fundamental values of loyalty, friendship and commitment felt between friends on a road trip, while Trevor’s multiple award-winning short “Two Laps” explores similar themes.
“Owen joins us at such an exciting time for the company,” related Jeff Baron, EP/managing director of STINK USA. “The response to his work has been amazing since he joined a few months ago in Europe, and we look forward to a similar response in the U.S. His knack for comedy is just one aspect of his work. He has a very strong visual style that will no doubt translate into many other areas of filmmaking.”
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More