Street Talk
Director Lenard Dorfman has joined bicoastal/international Moxie Pictures for commercial and music video representation in the U.S. He comes over from bicoastal/international MJZ. In terms of European representation, Dorfman will be at the as yet unnamed London shop recently formed by directors Daniel Kleinman and Ringan Ledwidge…..Director Nic Mathieu has come aboard A Band Apart, Los Angeles….Curious Pictures, New York, has signed Toronto-based Electric Company for U.S. representation. Known for its work in motion graphics and animation, Electric Company has a directorial roster that includes iamstatic (Roin Gervais, Randy Knott, David Greene), Play Airways (Josh Rankin, Alex Kurina, Kent Hugo), Kangaroo Alliance (animators Lauren Gregg, Craig Sheldon) and Crankbunny (Norma Toraya)…..Los Angeles-based Roses Are Blue has signed director Keith Schofield, who’s best known for his music video work (DJ Format’s “3 Feet Deep,” Wintergreen’s “When I Wake Up,” Death Cab for Cutie’s “Jealousy Rides With Me”)….New York design/animation studio FlickerLab has added director of animation Eric Merola. Prior to FlickerLab, Merola maintained Merola Productions, New York…..Oink Ink Radio, New York, which maintains sister studio 38 Greene in Manhattan, has extended its reach to the West Coast, launching Oink Ink Radio in Venice, Calif. Former BBDO New York radio producer Karen Jean has been named exec producer of the Venice operation….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