Knucklehead has brought director Lieven Van Baelen aboard its roster in North America, Asia and the U.K. He had previously been repped in the U.S. by AllDayEveryDay.
Known for his highly visual directing style, which he often blends with reality-bending postproduction techniques, Van Baelen began his career as a colorist before moving behind the lens as the draw of the camera became too strong to ignore. Several years as one of Belgium’s leading DPs allowed him to shoot assorted award-running commercials and music videos, and he took his first steps as a director in 1999 with the production of his short feature film The Thread. His directing career quickly picked up momentum with him earning acclaim for the Dexia spot “Club Brugge,” and winning awards at Eurobest and a Gold CCB Award.
His directorial credits include major global campaigns for brands such as Heineken, Grolsch, Canon, Coca-Cola, Renault and Ikea. He is known to draw the viewer into the frame with a deft use of postproduction techniques, as seen in his “Born to Thrill” spot for Nissan, in which Van Baelen creates an electrifying journey through sky, ground, and water to show the assembly of the Nissan Juke. The film was shortlisted in the Best Visual Effects category by the London International Awards.
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