Deluxe Entertainment Services Group (Deluxe) has announced that Chris Holt has been appointed to the new role of EVP, global operations, and Mark Smirnoff has been hired as EVP, sales for the Post-Production unit led by president William Sherak and chief operating officer Mike Gunter.
In making the announcement, Gunter said, “With Chris and Mark we have added two incredible talents to lead Deluxe Post-Production. William and I are thrilled that they are on the team that will lead us in the successes we see ahead.”
Holt most recently served as SVP and general manager for the division and previously held that position at Company 3 in Los Angeles. He has held executive positions at Sony Colorworks and Technicolor, and served as digital intermediate producer on feature films for Disney, Fox, and Universal. He will be responsible for the overall management and strategy for the global EFILM and Encore studios, as well as for the Deluxe Post-Production businesses in New York, London, and Toronto.
Smirnoff meanwhile reports to Holt and will lead the global sales teams at EFILM, Encore, Editpool, Level 3, EC3, Mobilabs, as well as the sales teams at Deluxe’s London, Toronto, and New York offices.
Smirnoff comes to Deluxe from Technicolor where he was VP of episodic services. He previously was president of creative services for Modern VideoFilm, and has served as the post executive in charge of many critically acclaimed feature and television projects.
Both Holt and Smirnoff will be based in Los Angeles.
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