Industry veterans Phyllis Koenig and Steve Wi have launched Hollywood-based production company R A U C O U S Content. Koenig and Wi had previously been at Über Content as, respectively, co-founder/exec producer and sr. EP/managing director.
The R A U C O U S roster of directors includes Ben Callner, Ryan Ebner, Keith Ehrlich, Adam Gunser, Chris Hooper, Paul Iannacchino, Rachel McDonald, Matt Shakman and Daniel Strange. The production house’s endeavors will include high-end spots and longer format films.
R A U C O U S is represented by Lisa Houck of Salon Reps on the West Coast, Katy Richter and Heather Guillen of The Standard Society in the Midwest, and Jared Shapiro of Moustache on the East Coast.
Koenig and Wi bring to their new venture a track record of collaboration with leading ad agencies including Wieden+Kennedy, Deutsch, Droga5, The Martin Agency, BBDO, 72andSunny, and Periera & O’Dell.
“At R A U C O U S, we’re building a culture where our directors are encouraged to be collaborative with one another,” said Koenig. “My focus is on the fusion of idea and execution in content, with the goal always of being more entertaining, more thoughtful and relevant, and ultimately more compassionate in our larger views.”
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