The directing duo known as Gentlemen–consisting of Brett Snider and Billy Federighi–has signed with Über Content, the Hollywood house headed by partners/executive producers Phyllis Koenig and Preston Lee, for exclusive U.S. spot representation. The up-and-coming directorial team made its initial mark in ad contests for Converse and Doritos, and have since graduated to earning assignments from Kellogg’s out of Leo Burnett, Chicago, and the Kentucky Lottery via Northlich, Cincinnati….Editor Joshua Teicher, formerly of Red Car, has joined earth2mars, New York….Santa Monica-based music company Emoto has forged a relationship with indie record label Kill Rock Stars to seek creative opportunities for a select group of their artists, including Thao Nguyen, Panther, Marnie Stern, and Jeff Hanson. The two companies have a track record together. Emoto and Howard Paar, head of its licensing division, have been working with the label for some time and have licensed artists for the Showtime series The L Word….
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More