The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) honored its inaugural graduating class of Certified Film Commissioners at its Cineposium 09 confab in Universal City, Calif., on November 2.
Launched in 2007, the AFCI’s Certified Film Commissioner Designation is awarded to those individuals who have completed all required training through AFCI University, the membership organization’s professional development program. The program consists of a combination of required Master Classes, exams, a case study, and other service and educational activities. The designation signifies the recipient has achieved the highest level of accomplishment in his/her profession according to a certification committee of seven AFCI members.
AFCI member Pat Swinney Kaufman, chairperson of the certification committee and executive director of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, presented six film industry professionals with their certificates in front of an audience of film commissioners and entertainment industry executives.
The first AFCI University graduating class consisted of: Jamie Cope, location services manager, West Virginia Film Office; Johnny Griffin, director, Wilmington Regional Film Commission, Inc.; Jennifer Parramore, film commissioner, St. Petersburg/Clearwater; Kevin Shand, director, Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media; Mark Stricklin, executive director, Birmingham-Jefferson Film Office; and Aaron Syrett, director, North Carolina Film Office.
“The merit of a membership organization like AFCI is deeply rooted in the knowledge, expertise, and dedication of its constituents,” said Mary Nelson, AFCI board president, and communications manager for the Virginia Film Office. “Congratulations to these film commission professionals for their ongoing commitment to providing the best possible service to on-location filmmakers worldwide.”
The AFCI is the global professional organization whose members are film commissioners that assist film, television and video production throughout the world. It is a non-profit educational association whose network of members serves as city, county, state, regional, provincial or national film commissioners for their respective governmental jurisdictions.
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