Directors Bram Van Alphen and Yvan Fabing have joined Slim–the Venice, Calif.-based production company headed by owner/EP Tom Weissferdt–for commercials and branded content in the U.S. Van Alphen is a lifestyle director with a background in design from the Advertising school and the Media Art Academy of Utrecht in the Netherlands. He is known for creating striking, dream-like imagery in everyday situations and has directed commercials for Kaufland, Helsana and most recently for Teylers Museum in Amsterdam. Fabing works primarily in fashion and often implements VFX to enhance his innate storytelling ability. Originally an art director on the ad agency side, he became a photographer in London before making the leap to directing. He has worked for several brands since then, including Y-3 Adidas, Givenchy and Nike….
WAX, which maintains shops in NY and Boston, has brought editor Alvaro del Val onto its roster. He brings 15 years of editorial experience to his new roost, having honed and established his cutting craft in Madrid and Dubai for global clients like McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan and Nestle before making his way to New York City and gaining a foothold in the American market over the past three years. His work ranges from commercials to music videos, short documentaries and films. His editing touch is evident in multiple Cannes Lions-winning projects for the likes of Fitbit, as well as the short documentary/film festival favorite The Kicking Yoda, Marriott’s documentary short series Storybooked and Volvo’s captivating “Song of the Open Road,” the latter earning an AICE Best Editing Award in the Automotive category….
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 โ 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