His "The Stanford Prison Experiment" debuted at 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning two awards
Writer/director Kyle Patrick Alvarez has signed with Chelsea Pictures for exclusive U.S. and international representation for commercials and branded content projects. This past January, Alvarez made his latest trip to the Sundance Film Festival, premiering The Stanford Prison Experiment, based on the infamous Stanford University social research experiment conducted in the 1970s. Featuring an ensemble cast (Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano, Billy Crudup), the film went on to win two awards at Sundance–the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (for Tim Talbott). Additionally The Stanford Prison Experiment was nominated for Sundance’s Grand Jury Dramatic Prize.
Alvarez made his directorial debut, Easier with Practice, which in 2010 won him the “Someone to Watch” Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, also earning a Best First Feature nomination at that competition.
His sophomore film, C.O.G., premiered in competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was the first film ever based on a short story by author David Sedaris. C.O.G. was awarded the “Best New American Cinema” award at the Seattle Film Festival and was released by Focus Features.
“We have been a fan of Kyle’s films since we first saw Easier with Practice,” said Chelsea co-owner and EP Lisa Mehling. “At Sundance in January we were blown away by The Stanford Prison Experiment and knew the timing was right to introduce Kyle and his work to the advertising community.”
Alvarez said, “I love the world of advertising and am excited to take my first steps into it, especially alongside the incredible company of filmmakers that work at Chelsea. I am inspired by the work they create.”
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