Director Alison Chernick has joined aWHITELABELproduct for global representation, marking her first career signing with a commercial production company. She is best known for her feature-length documentaries and short films covering art, culture and fashion.
Her first feature documentary, The Jeff Koons Show, captured the thoughts and processes of prolific visual artist Jeff Koons.
Chernick soon followed it up with another feature length documentary about avant-garde artist Matthew Barney, titled Matthew Barney: No Restraint, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was acquired for theatrical distribution by The Weinstein Company and IFC. Both films gained worldwide release and were screened at notable festivals and museums around the world.
Chernick’s ability to capture intimate and unvarnished moments of her subjects has made her a sought after filmmaker in art, culture and fashion circles. She has directed several mini-films about iconic art and design personalities such as Julian Schnabel, Marc Newson, Jeffrey Deitch, Pedro Almodovar and the infamous restaurant in Spain, El Bulli. On the commercial side, utilizing her documentary approach she independently directed a BMW spot featuring author Glenn O’Brien, and won a Promax award for the HBO promo “You’ve Got Mail.”
Chernick’s recent short film, Confessions of Steve McQueen, can be viewed at the Louis Vuitton on-line magazine Nowness.com, where she is a regular contributor. Shot during the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, it’s a film ruminating with British director Steve McQueen in his hotel room while discussing his forthcoming feature film Shame. Chernick often toggles between covering real topics and creating fiction. The prolific director won best screenplay for her fiction short titled The Couple, which played the film festival circuit this year.
On the list of Chernick’s projects is her next feature documentary about the mysterious and intriguing French artist/fashion designer Martin Margiela. Chernick is currently shooting a video series of 10 short films, in which contemporary artists are enlisted to star in remakes of seminal video artworks, prompting a dialogue between the original artwork and the artist reinterpreting it. First is James Franco as Bruce Nauman in a contemporary update of Nauman’s Art Make-Up video piece from 1967. Further details on the series will be announced as more installments are completed.
In the feature film arena, Chernick is developing a project inspired by Maurice Pialat’s 1972 French drama Nous Ne Vieillirons Pas Ensemble / We Won’t Grow Old Together, which she is scheduled to shoot in late 2012. She will also be shooting a short video piece commissioned by the Tate Modern in London for an upcoming exhibit.
Chernick’s work has been screened at various museums around the world, including the five Guggenheims, The Smithsonian, SFMOMA, and The Walker. She comes aboard aWHITELABELproduct directorial roster that includes Arni & Kinski, Mikael Jansson, Aneil Karia, Darius Khondji, Peter Lindbergh, Carlos Manga Jr., David Michalek, Paul Middleditch, Panoptic, Adria Petty, James Pilkington, Eugenio Recuenco, Tim Richardson, Nick Robertston, Stephane Sednaoui, Benjamin Seroussi, Carter Smith, Tell No One and Mathieu Wothke.
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