Gramercy Park Studios has promoted Sam Cross to sound designer. He’s spent four years at the integrated post facility within audio transfer. Having joined the company in its early stages, Cross has been instrumental in developing the sound department into an award-winning entity.
On his promotion, Cross said: “Becoming a sound engineer comes with a multitude of new challenges and pressures as it’s almost exclusively a client-facing role, but I’m excited to push myself further. It’s great to be working alongside two very experienced and creative engineers, and as we’re such a close-knit department my transition into engineering full-time should be very smooth. Having been at Gramercy Park Studios since its inception, it’s really rewarding to see just how talented a team we’ve built and the work we’re creating. We have a great team ethic that makes the working day genuinely enjoyable and a huge factor in wanting further my career at GPS.”
Cross, who is already building a strong client base, points to his work for Dyson and short animation Dead Ahead – hugely successful at various festivals and chosen by Vimeo as a Staff Pick, garnering 240,000 views to date – as highlights so far. Other work includes promos for The Science Museum with Grey London, where he reinforced the quirky nature of the visual with a soundbed to match.
Prior to joining Gramercy Park Studios, Cross worked at 750mph for five years. His promotion at GPS coincides with the expansion of the wider facility in Central London and the opening of a new sound suite. Equipped with the latest Avid hardware and the modular Pro Tools S6 mixing console, the suite is fully equipped for mixing 5.1 and 7.1, allowing it to service sessions across all formats and platforms.
Toby Griffin, head of audio at Gramercy Park Studios, commented, “We’re delighted that Sam has agreed to continue his progress with GPS. He has worked tirelessly over the past four years to help build our reputation and not only is he technically outstanding, he’s a fantastically creative sound designer.”
“Clients new and old are in safe hands with Sam and we’re excited to have a young and talented sound designer, reinforcing our commitment to up and coming talent, bolstering the creative output here at Gramercy Park Studios,” added Richard Ireland, managing director of GPS.
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 โ 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