Production company Serial Pictures has signed directing duo BRTHR for branded entertainment, commercial, music video and digital representation in North America.
Comprised of filmmakers Alex Lee and Kyle Wightman, BRTHR has directed music videos for Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Iggy Azalea, Miley Cyrus, and Charli XCX, among others. They also bring a strong voice to the commercial world, helming spots for international brands such as Adidas, Yves Saint Laurent, Converse and Helmut Lang. Their most recent work is a hyper-kinetic, medium-bending launch trailer for EA Sports FIFA19, “Champions Rise,” starring Football legends such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar.
Lee grew up in Japan and Wightman in Long Island. The two met at the School of Visual Arts, and officially began collaborating as BRTHR after their hypnotic mashup-ode to Lee’s home town, Tokyo Slo-Mode, became a Vimeo staff pick and drew acclaim online. The duo saw another wave of mass interest with the release of their epic, six-and-a-half minute bloody feminist revenge fantasy for The Weeknd’s “In The Night” starring Bella Hadid as a beautiful savior in a dark, Japanese noir-style thriller.
BRTHR mashes up vibrant pop culture with an energetic, unique style, integrating cinematic narratives with visual effects, graphics and various mediums. BRTHR’s visual style and scope of filmmaking is further enhanced by their abilities off camera, with the majority of their work having been shot, edited, colored and animated by their own hands.
Prior to joining Serial Pictures, BRTHR was repped by Strange Love.
Headed by founding partner and EP Violaine Etienne, Serial Pictures is a joint venture with Anonymous Content.
Etienne said of BRTHR, “They’re young, and their spontaneous way of communicating directly connects to today’s viewers. They are bold innovators, who create multi-layered storytelling with a strong visual punch and a wink.”
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