Director Lance Kelleher has joined production house PHOTOPLAY for representation in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. His credits includes campaigns for Jaguar, Canon, Renault Global, Lexus, Jim Beam, Qantas, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, BMW, Heineken, Sony and Samsung. Kelleher is the director behind the multi-award winning TAC commercial “The Ride” (Australia). His most recent work includes projects for Herbalife (USA/global), IKEA (Europe), Nationwide Insurance (USA), Jim Beam (Global), VW (China) and Rexona (Australia). Over the years, he has accrued creative awards at major international shows such as Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clios and New York Festivals….
Toronto-based Partners Film has added director Daniel Sheppard to its roster for Canadian representation. He continues to be with Superlounge in the U.S., and was formerly at The Corner Store for Canadian representation. Sheppard brings a combination of clever, dry comedic performance direction and creative collaboration to the table. His commercial work includes directing for clients such as Advil, Boston Pizza, Wendy’s, Canadian Tire, Walmart and Ford….
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF)–which will run from Sept. 20-24–is now accepting entries for competition in 2017. Entries are due May 26, and there is no entry fee. OIAF invites animators from around the globe to submit their recent work in the following major categories: Animated Feature; Narrative Animated Short; Non-Narrative Animated Short; Student Animation; Commissioned Animation; Short Preschool Animation Made for Children 0-5; Short Animation Made for Children 6-12; Preschool Animation Series Made for Children 0-5; and Animation Series Made for Children 6-12. In addition to category prizes, submissions will also be considered for a variety of craft and other awards including the Film Critic’s Prize, which is new to 2017. Each year the OIAF receives more than 2,000 entries that are reviewed by the Festival’s programming team. Approximately 150 films will be chosen for Official Competition and Out-of-Competition Showcase screenings. For more info, click here….
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