Ad agency vets Colin Costello and Susanna Matukas have teamed with executive music consultant Surita Mansukhani to form FranMar Entertainment, a Chicago-based branded entertainment company. The new venture’s main focus will be on scripted and reality-based series for television, Web TV and mobile outlets. Costello has served in such capacities as VP/group creative director at FCB Chicago and associate creative director at DDB Chicago. Matukas spent 20 years at DDB, working primarily on Budweiser and McDonald’s. Mansukhani is an executive music consultant and producer for Chicago’s What The Hale Music and Omnicom entertainment media marketing firm AWE……Director David Wild has come aboard Directorz, Dallas, for national representation. He joins a company roster that includes directors Jeff Bednarz, Tom Ryan and Stewart Cohen……Director Larry Shiu has joined Instant Karma Films, Santa Monica….Cut + Run, New York, has launched its sound and mixing division with a short film by director Wim Wenders. The new Nokia-sponsored promotional documentary features David Bowie as a guide to innovative music stores around the globe, with sound design and mix by Cut + Run’s Jun Mizumachi….Editor Nicholas Erasmus of bicoastal 89 Editorial is again available for commercials after a nine-month hiatus during which he worked on the feature film Chaos Theory, directed by Marcos Siega…..The industry is mourning the passing of Terry Clairmont on Oct. 28 after a courageous battle against lung cancer. Clairmont, CEO of Clairmont Camera, cofounded the North Hollywood-headquartered camera rental house with his brother Denny; the company went on to open facilities in Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto….
A Closer Look At Proposed Measures Designed To Curb Google’s Search Monopoly
U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly for the last decade.
The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice could radically alter Google's business, including possibly spinning off the Chrome web browser and syndicating its search data to competitors. Even if the courts adopt the blueprint, Google isn't likely to make any significant changes until 2026 at the earliest, because of the legal system's slow-moving wheels.
Here's what it all means:
What is the Justice Department's goal?
Federal prosecutors are cracking down on Google in a case originally filed during near the end of then-President Donald Trump's first term. Officials say the main goal of these proposals is to get Google to stop leveraging its dominant search engine to illegally squelch competition and stifle innovation.
"The playing field is not level because of Google's conduct, and Google's quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired," the Justice Department asserted in its recommendations. "The remedy must close this gap and deprive Google of these advantages."
Not surprisingly, Google sees things much differently. The Justice Department's "wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision," Kent Walker, Google's chief legal officer, asserted in a blog post. "It would break a range of Google products — even beyond search — that people love and find helpful in their everyday lives."
It's still possible that the Justice Department could ease off on its attempts to break up Google, especially if President-elect Donald Trump... Read More