Comedy director Andrew French, who began his career in the MTV promo department before going on to establish himself as a spot helmer, has joined Pictures in a Row, a Hollywood house headed by executive producer David Quartararo and owned by director Peter Lang.
French has already wrapped his first job at Pictures in a Row: an AT&T campaign out of DDB Chicago promoting a “Stretch” feature that translates voicemail into text messages.
The director was most recently repped by Mirror. He began his commercial directing career as one-half of the directing duo Spooner/French (with Nick Spooner who’s now with L.A.-based Beef Films) before branching out on his own in 2006. He has directed for such clients as Bud Light, Dominoes, Dodge, ESPN, Hyundai, the Pennsylvania Lottery, Subway and vegas.com.
Quartararo cited French’s prowess in comedy and eye for talent as among the factors that drew the company to the director. His comedy chops include following his MTV promo department tenure serving as a writer at Comedy Central for comedians Bill Maher, Dave Atell, Jim Gaffigan and Penn & Teller.
French now joins a Pictures in a Row directorial roster that consists of Lang, Jason House, Misko Iho and Keva Rosenfeld. The company is repped by independents Andrew Halpern on the West Coast and Texas, Tracy Bernard & Associates in the Midwest, and Ann McKallagat in the East.
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