Director Paul Riccio has joined The Traveling Picture Show Company (TPSC) for exclusive representation. Riccio had previously been handled by Sandwick Media for spots and branded content.
Riccio’s short film The Timmy Brothers–Water Makers was recently featured at the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival as well as in a New York Times article. A witty and dry portrait of Bill and Terry Timmy, Brooklyn-based hipster water makers, the tongue-in-cheek film has been recognized worldwide, covered on NPR, studied in a business class at the University of Michigan, and is the basis of a Harvard student’s MBA thesis.
Another Riccio film, Space Cadet about a daydreaming teen and his pothead parents, was a Best Narrative Short nominee at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013. Additionally the director’s short 8,336,615 was a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Riccio has turned out notable content for such brands as PBS, Funny or Die, Verizon, NASDAQ and the NBA. Along the way his work has garnered honors at The One Show, Cannes Lions, and an Emmy.
Known for his comedy-based dialogue expertise, Riccio brings to TPSC an elevated sense of humor and a diversified background. He is a highly productive writer with a knack for improv and bringing out the best in his actors. “Part of what I love about filmmaking is the roll-up-your-sleeves aspect to it. Everyone having one direction and one goal: to make something really great and entertaining,” said Riccio.
Dawn Clarke, TPSC’s EP/head of sales, said of Riccio, “He’s an amazing talent, so skilled in performance direction. He’s also got a wonderful comedic sensibility mixed with an incredible attention to detail. His work and easy going, collaborative personality really jibes with TPSC’s creative direction.”
Riccio joins a TPSC directorial roster which includes Gus Black, Chris Woods, PR Brown, Justin Shipley, Julian Pugsley, and Paul Street. TPSC is headed by EP John Noble and Clarke. The company is represented by MoButler Reps in the Midwest, Asprodites Reps in the Southeast/Southwest, and Schaffer/Rodgers on the East Coast.
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