By BY ROBERT GOLDRICH
HOLLYWOOD-Executive producer Ron Hacohen has left bicoastal HKM Productions. A company mainstay, Hacohen began at HKM in 1983 as a freelance PA. Three years later, he was freelance producing for director Graham Henman, a shop co-founder. And in ’90, Hacohen came on staff as head of production. In ’96, he was promoted to exec. producer.
"I’ve been at an executive level at the company for almost a decade now," related Hacohen, "and I just simply felt it was time for something new."
At press time, Hacohen was taking a brief respite from the business and planned to start sifting through his options. He didn’t rule out the possibility of an association with HKM, perhaps in the form of a satellite. "But there’s also the chance that I could be involved in something totally separate from HKM. The one thing for sure is that I will continue in the commercialmaking business."
HKM exec. producer/founding partner Tom Mickel said Hacohen’s departure is the next step in a natural career evolution. "In a sense he’s graduated to the next level," said Mickel. "He’s a guy ready to run his own show. He has great relationships with agencies, clients and directors throughout the business and is one of the brightest, funniest people I’ve ever worked with."
At press time, a successor to Hacohen had not been named. Mickel said HKM has a tradition of "developing from within" and it’s likely that a current staffer will eventually grow into the position.
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