The last major film award of the 2012 South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) was bestowed upon director Emmett Malloy’s Big Easy Express, a feature documentary that features a remarkable train journey/concert across the U.S. with three of the hottest bands aboard: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Malloy is half of the directorial duo The Malloys (with brother Brendan), a team repped by HSI Productions for spots, branded content and music videos. Big Easy Express was the closing night film at SXSW 2012.
Several of The Malloys’ commercialmaking colleagues contributed to Big Easy Express, including editor Matt Murphy of Final Cut and colorist Beau Leon of New Hat.
As Big Easy Express centers on creative expression in its most pure and organic form, Murphy’s cut mirrored this theme. Aside from showcasing a few stage performances, Matt’s edit departed from the traditional concert film” approach, and instead concentrated on the rhythmic language of the musicians, the artistic partnerships, and the phenomenal road trip they initiated.
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