Bonfire, a creative studio based in New York, has retained the independent representation firm Blah! Blah! Blah! for East Coast sales. Experts in visual effects, design, animation, experiential and mixed media, Blah! Blah! Blah! partners Andy Arkin and Marci Selsberg, along with sales rep Monica Johnson and social media guru Ryan Haupt, will work closely with Clare O’Brien, Bonfire’s recently-installed head of sales. Bonfire specializes in boutique visual effects, color, design and animation services, provided via its proprietary Bonfire Platform remote talent network and by its in-house team of artists, creative directors and producers. The company was founded in 2016 by Flame artist Brendan O’Neil and is led by partners Aron Baxter, Peter Corbett, Dave Dimeola and Jason Mayo….
Creative studio Imaginary Forces has hired Brittney Walker to lead business development. She will report directly to Tiffani Manabat, Imaginary Force’s general manager. A highly experienced new business strategist with an excellent track record in sales, Walker comes over from VFX and creative studio Framestore’s West Coast base. She focused there on sales for live action, emerging technology, VFX, design and rides. During her tenure she helped develop a client base that included Google, Facebook, Apple, HP, Activision and Intel…
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