EUE/Screen Gems has opened a studio complex in the former Lakewood Fairgrounds site near midtown Atlanta. The new studio targets film, television and digital production communities and ad agencies. According to the lease agreement with the City of Atlanta, EUE/Screen Gems can book films and television series in an existing soundstage now. A nationally recognized entertainment brand is currently shooting a film at the facility.
EUE/Screen Gems is undertaking a multi-million dollar phased renovation for the property and is updating five other buildings. They will start construction on a new 37,500-foot sound stage that will be ready in March 2011. Plans include the development of office space, a mill shop and lighting and grip facilities. The Lakewood site has a film history. It was home to Smokey and the Bandit, the 1997 film that inspired other trucking films and its own sequels.
The investment represents an expansive move for studio provider EUE/Screen Gems which currently houses the Rachael Ray show in New York City and offers a 50-acre studio complex in Wilmington, N.C.
“Through our properties in New York City, Wilmington and now Atlanta, we provide coastal, rural and urban settings to our clients as well as size and infrastructure needed to handle intensive special effects for film, commercial and gaming needs. This urban location expands our portfolio in a powerful way,” said EUE/Screen Gems COO/co-owner Chris Cooney.
Cooney noted that the company was also drawn to Georgia’s attractive 30 percent tax credit to qualified production and postproduction expenditures. The credit is available not only to traditional motion picture projects such as feature films, television series, commercials and music videos, but also innovative new industries such as game development and animation. In addition to the incentive, the city’s ethnic and cultural diversity in the talent base was a draw, as well as the close proximity to the airport and the number of direct flights to Los Angeles and New York.
Bill Thompson, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office, stated, “Having a high-profile soundstage in the metro area will only add to the many assets Georgia offers for the film industry. We are building this industry in Georgia, and EUE/Screen Gems locating here helps us achieve that goal. The new facility will create more jobs for Georgians and increase our competitiveness as a state for film and television productions.”
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More