By MILLIE TAKAKI
Manex Entertainment LLC, a visual effects and production complex in the Northern California town of Alameda, has bought feature effects facility Computer Film Company-LA, Culver City, Calif., from FrameStore Group, the London digital effects subsidiary of U.K. firm Megalomedia plc. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Manex Entertainment-with 2-D and 3-D effects talent and resources-gains a foothold in the Los Angeles market via CFC-LA, known primarily for its 2D effects capabilities. The L.A. operation will initially be known as CFC/MVFX for about six months. After this transition period, plans call for CFC/ MVFX to switch over to the Manex moniker. Don Fly of CFC-LA continues as general manager of CFC/MVFX.
While Manex expands into Southern California, Framestore Group-by selling CFC-LA-is now free to focus on its U.K. holdings: FrameStore, London, which provides digital visual effects for spots and TV programs; CFC-London, a shop specializing in effects for theatrical features; and CFCs Computer Film Tools, a software venture. FrameStore Group originally acquired CFC-LA in June 1997 in order to expand into the stateside effects biz. While earning a measure of success in that regard, effects/post group Megalomedia and FrameStore have since decided to concentrate instead on European operations encompassing commercials, TV and feature film effects.
This is a sound strategic move for both parties, said FrameStore Group joint chief exec. William Sargent. Importantly, we leave CFC-LA and its employees in good shape. At the time of the sale, CFC-LA is working on film projects for several major studios. Those assignments include effects shots for Bachelor from New Line Cinema, American Beauty via DreamWorks SKG and For Love of the Game from Universal.
Robert Bobo, managing director of Manex Entertainment, said the acquisition of CFC-LA was a key component of our long-range strategy. He cited the importance of an L.A. presence and the coterie of talent, including visual effects supervisors, who now become part of the Manex family. Bobo contended that CFC-LA complements what Manex has put in place in Northern California. The Alameda shop is currently producing effects for a pair of Warner Bros. theatrical releases, The Matrix and Deep Blue Sea.
Back in Oct. 1997, Manex, then primarily known as a Manchester, England-headquartered corporate finance firm, made its first entertainment acquisition, Mass. Illusion, a full-service visual effects house in Lenox, Mass. (SHOOT, 10/10/97, p. 7). The Mass. Illusion shop, now defunct, was the predecessor to what eventually became Manexs Alameda complex. That facility also includes soundstages which have played host to long-form and spots, the latter out of such companies as Industrial Light+Magic Commercial Productions, San Rafael and Los Angeles, (Colossal) Pictures, San Francisco, and Complete Pandemonium, San Francisco.
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