Passport Films has added to its stateside directorial roster while extending its production reach Down Under. On the former score, the Santa Monica-based Passport has secured director Mat Humphrey for U.S. representation. Additionally, Passport–headed by owners/executive producers Patti and David Coulter–has entered into an affiliation with The Guild of Commercial Filmmakers, an Australian production house launched by Humphrey and producer Helene Nicol in 2007.
This is the first of several planned international alliances for Passport, intended to give it production footholds globally.
As for Humphrey, joining Passport reunites him with Michael Romersa, who became the company’s executive producer/head of feature development earlier this year (SHOOT, 4/16). The two were together at Romersa’s since closed Reactor Films, which had handled U.S. representation for the Australia-based director. Among their collaborations was a Brinks Security spot assignment for Doner, Detroit.
Humphrey has been active stateside with select projects over the years, including a memorable PSA for the Minnesota Partnership For Action Against Tobacco, out of agency Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minneapolis. In the ad, a woman who’s holding a baby speaks to a video camera. “Hi, Emma,” she says. “It’s Mommy, and this is you. Mommy is really sick, so I wanted to do this so you’ll always know how much I love you.” Then the mother sings “You Are My Sunshine” to her daughter. A graphic reads, “Be there tomorrow. Stop smoking today.”
The PSA was produced by Aussie house Filmgraphics, which was Humphrey’s roost Down Under prior to his partnering in The Guild of Commercial Filmmakers.
Humphrey’s credits span poignant dramatic fare akin to the anti-tobacco work; actor-driven comedy; dialogue/people work; and other varied forms of storytelling. Over the years, his work has been recognized at such competitions as The One Show, Clios, the London International Awards, and the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
At the latter show, “Consequences,” a PSA for New Zealand’s Land Traffic Safety Association, won a Bronze Lion in 2002. Out of Clemenger BBDO in Wellington, New Zealand, the spot depicts via flashbacks a man driving a car at excessive speed. His vehicle rear-ends an SUV that’s stopped at a crosswalk. The man examines the damage to his front fender and approaches the female driver of the SUV to tell her there’s more damage to his vehicle than hers. She looks horrified, oblivious to what he’s saying. Her eyes lead us to the crosswalk, where we see that her vehicle was hit so hard from behind that it ran over a young woman, apparently killing her. A small boy standing next to the body calls out, “Mommy!” A graphic reads, “The faster you go, the bigger the mess.”
“Consequences” also earned Humphrey a Bronze Clio for direction in ’02, one of two consecutive years he copped a directing honor at the Clio Awards. He earned a Silver Clio in the directing category in ’01 for the Traffic Accident Commission PSA “Never,” which also garnered Gold for best direction at the London International Advertising Awards (now the London International Awards).
Humphrey comes aboard a Passport directorial roster which includes Marco Schillaci, Marshall Vernet, Monty Miranda, Ari Sandel, Stephen Sommer, Domenic Mastrippolito and Larry Carroll.
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