Director Kieran Walsh has joined Wild Plum Productions, a Venice-based shop headed by executive producer Shelby Sexton and CFO Alisa Allen. Already at Wild Plum, which recently marked its two-year anniversary, Walsh has started work for Kellogg’s Raisin Bran as well as a six-spot healthcare package. Wild Plum is active in commercials and varied forms of branded content.
Walsh, who was formerly handled by Crossroads Films, has a body of work over the years which includes notable spots for such clients as Coca-Cola, HSBC and ESPN. For the latter, he directed “Gathering,” which earned SHOOT Top Spot distinction. The ad shows a family get-together that is torn asunder due to relatives’ conflicting soccer team allegiances. The humorous tagline, tinged with sarcasm, asks, “Without sports, how would we all come together?”
Best known for his performance and dialogue-driven work, Walsh related, “I like the challenge of giving the emotional connection between the characters and the viewer a voyeuristic quality and resonance. Audiences are smart and the job of the director and agency is to support an idea through authenticity or the audience will change the channel.”
Walsh’s previous production company affiliations include Anonymous Content and Chelsea Pictures. His first career roost was MJZ which signed him on the strength of a pair of spec spots he directed–one for Nike, another for fashion designer agnes b.
Graduating from Columbia University in 1990 with a major in philosophy and minors in photography and dramatic arts, Walsh went to Los Angeles to work on commercials. Starting out as a production assistant, he moved up the industry ladder to become the producer of some low-budget commercials and music videos, which he freelanced through various production companies. This production experience helped his directorial aspirations as he made key contacts and learned about different aspects of commercialmaking. Walsh returned to New York in ’94 to make the leap into directing with the aforementioned spec commercials.
Walsh now comes aboard a Wild Plum directorial roster which includes Jan DeBont, Shane Drake, Matt Goodman Jason Sands and Walter May.
Wild Plum signed Sands, a reality director (The Hills, Murder in Small Town X, Real World), earlier this year. He has since helmed a five-spot package for Jenny Craig out of Y&R, Irvine. Drake directed several American Idol music videos for Ford and Team Detroit–the second of the series for Wild Plum–and was nominated for a 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video for Paramore’s “Decode” (from the Twilight soundtrack). He also just finished two spec spots for Altoids. Director/editor May helmed a star-studded Caitlin Crosby video and toured with Katy Perry, directing her “Ur So Gay” video which has garnered over 6 million hits to date on YouTube and MySpace. Goodman directed a viral for Butterfinger and has been busy shooting various extreme sports projects, including the brand-enhancing X Games 3D movie that screened in over 1,200 theaters nationwide, while feature and commercials helmer DeBont is currently developing some movie and TV properties.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More