Veteran executive producer Bryant Ewing, best known for his tenure at Ultramedia Productions and then its successor shop Luna Pier Films with bases of operation in Detroit, Santa Monica and New York, died on Monday, Feb. 21, at the age of 70.
Ewing had a successful run with Ultramedia and Luna Pier before moving back to his native Michigan from the West Coast in 1993. He had a hand in developing assorted directorial careers, including those of Greg Pike, Gordon MacAlister, Bill Scarlet, Blair Hayes and Phil Morrison. The latter was Luna Pier’s first New York-based director.
Ewing was also active in the postproduction arena, having been one of the founders of edit/post house Postique in Southfield, Mich., before it went on to become part of the Grace & Wild family of companies.
Ewing is survived by his life companion, Suzanne Kuecken, son Jason, siblings Bettina and Kendall Ewing, nephews and nieces Joe, Jacob and Kristin Schmidt and Samantha and Lindsay Maitre, as well as a maternal figure in his life, Nettie Kuecken (Suzanne’s mom).
Services will be held on Friday, Feb. 25, at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Mich. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. and the funeral service is slated to start at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations (write “In Memory of Bryant Ewing” in memo line) be made to Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fund #028184, MGH Development Office, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.
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