Entertainment and production company Caviar has signed actor and director Fred Savage. The move positions Savage to continue growing his directorial involvement in the commercialmaking space. Meanwhile he recently inked a deal with 20th Century Fox Television to write produce and direct projects for the studio.
Savage has enjoyed a well-rounded career as a multi-hyphenate storyteller, his successes spanning acting, directing and producing. Savage began his career as an actor, becoming the youngest person to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on The Wonder Years. After graduating from Stanford, Savage moved behind the lens, apprenticing under heavyweight filmmakers before ultimately landing gigs directing and executive producing episodic comedies such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Party Down. He recently wrapped up a critically acclaimed run on the Fox series The Grinder.
Savage has directed some 200 episodes of television, racking up four Directors Guild Award nominations in the process–for episodes of Modern Family, Zeke and Luther, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Phil of the Future.
Savage has imparted his sitcom savvy to the advertising world, directing spots for California Milk, Honda, Charter Communications, FitBit, MasterCard, Verizon and the ongoing campaign for Farmers Insurance featuring actor J.K. Simmons. Recently, Savage helmed a series of TV and web ads for Realtor.com out of Pereira & O’Dell New York. The spots featuring Elizabeth Banks poke a playful finger at the more distressing parts of the home-buying experience.
Prior to joining Caviar, Savage was on the commercialmaking roster of production house Sanctuary.
“Fred has proven his directorial expertise throughout the world of television, commercials and branded content,” said Darren Foldes, EP at Caviar Los Angeles.
Savage added, “I have been a fan of the work coming out of Caviar for years and I am thrilled to be teaming with their crew to explore new and exciting ways to tell stories, make people laugh, and sell stuff.”
Savage continues to be represented theatrically at WME.
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