Scott Knowlton and Noah Lydiard, co-owners of Conductor Productions, have recently announced the merger of Engine Room Edit and Brewhouse VFX into Conductor. With the merger, Knowlton and Lydiard will share ownership and leadership responsibilities for the expanded Conductor Productions, a full-service production and post company.
Conductor’s new structure provides an opportunity for Knowlton and Lydiard to offer clients full service production expertise under one roof, while also providing essential a la carte production and postproduction services. “For 13 years Engine Room Edit has served the production community with innovative editorial and visual effects,” said Knowlton. “This strengthened connection with Conductor gives clients opportunities to bring editorial into a project earlier in the production process. We believe it’s a valuable creative option for our clients.”
Lydiard added, “By formalizing this new relationship, our clients can pick and choose the services they need. Our in-house staff will now have the flexibility to be involved with projects from the idea phase to the edit suite, as well as provide targeted expertise at specific points in the pipeline. With the experience of our combined staff, Conductor Productions can fulfill the specific needs of our clients- whether they prefer one stop full service or a unique boutique experience.”
The company will continue to provide a collaborative atmosphere for clients to create their commercial, broadcast, web and film projects. “Scott and Noah saw an opportunity to consolidate and strengthen the Conductor brand, and 2019 seemed to be the right time to take this next step,” said Don Packer, co-founder of all three companies. “I am proud of my role in the creation of these businesses and I’m thrilled that Scott and Noah are taking the reins of the new Conductor Productions. It will be exciting to see where these two seasoned professionals will take this new venture.”
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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