The collaborative working bond between leading post houses Nice Shoes and Optimus has extended its geographical reach. Last year, a remote color grading partnership was established between Nice Shoes in NY and Optimus in Chicago. That connection was then taken to the next level when colorist Ron Sudul moved from NY to Chicago to launch Nice Shoes Chicago at Optimus (SHOOTonline, 8/20/14). Now the two companies have installed their Remote Color connection at Optimus’ studio in Santa Monica.
“From coast to coast, the unification of Nice Shoes and Optimus’ talents and services presents clients with an end-to-end postproduction solution,” said Nice Shoes CEO Dominic Pandolfino. “We’re bringing together the best that each company has to offer, while helping our clients to save time and money.”
Tom Duff, Optimus president/partner, added, “The alliance between Optimus and Nice Shoes has been more than special. Ron is awesome in Chicago and we love having a presence in New York at Nice Shoes. Adding Optimus Santa Monica to the mix just strengthens the relationship that much more.”
Since moving to Chicago, Sudul has quickly built up relationships with many of the area’s top agencies, thanks to the reputation established by the Optimus brand and their talented editors. Optimus’ editors have also traveled to New York on a few projects, working out of Nice Shoes’ studio with colorists Lenny Mastrandrea and Gene Curley.
The expansion to Santa Monica now creates the opportunity for clients working with Optimus’ West Coast editors Nathan Cali, Erin Nordstrom, Katie Zaumseil and managing director Therese Hunsberger to also collaborate with Sudul as well as the rest of Nice Shoes’ talented roster of colorists.
Nice Shoes’ proprietary Remote technology features both a secure HD feed and a display calibrated by the studio’s engineers to match exactly with the monitors in New York. Clients and colorists are connected visually through an additional monitor connected to an enterprise quality telepresence solution, allowing them to collaborate efficiently. The technology is a real time solution, with no delay between New York, Chicago, and Santa Monica, making it feel as though everyone is working together in the same suite, despite the geographic distance separating them.
The launch is appropriately timed with the 2015 AICE Show in Los Angeles on May 14, which celebrates independent post companies coming together to celebrate the best work produced each year.
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