Director Richard D’Alessio has joined bicoastal/international @radical.media for exclusive representation worldwide—except for Canada where he continues to be handled by Imported Artists Film Company, Toronto. D’Alessio was last repped in the U.S. by now defunct Shooting Gallery Productions….Filmmaker Mikael Salomon has come aboard bicoastal Coppos Films for exclusive representation as a spot director/DP. He was formerly handled for commercials by bicoastal Flying Tiger Films. Salomon’s longform credits as a director include episodes of the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, pilot episodes for CBS’ The Fugitive and The Agency, and such feature films as A Far Off Place and Hard Rain. Salomon first established himself as a noted cinematographer (e.g.—Far And Away, Backdraft, The Abyss)…. Director Duncan Sharp has joined Green Dot Films, Santa Monica. He had been at Life of Riley, Los Angeles….Executive producers David and Patti Coulter have launched BeachHouse Films, Santa Monica… Amy Russo is joining Santa Monica-based editorial house Terminal as a producer….Editorial house FilmCore Santa Monica has promoted postproduction supervisor Christie Price to producer….The industry is mourning the death of Charlie Willis, producer of Actual Reality, Atlanta, who succumbed to cancer….And noted agency creative Don Tennant passed away at age 79. He died last weekend (12/8) at his family’s Los Angeles home. Tennant’s credits included helping to create brand icons like Tony The Tiger, the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Marlboro Man. He is perhaps most closely associated with agency Leo Burnett, breaking into that ad shop in 1950. During his 20-year tenure at Burnett, he served in various creative capacities, culminating in his role as worldwide creative director and chairman of the creative review committee. He resigned from Burnett in 1970, first becoming COO for Chicago agency Clinton E. Frank and then in ’73 moving on to launch his own shop, Don Tennant Advertising, also in Chicago. That agency was sold in ’87, after which Tennant served as a creative advertising consultant. His survivors include three children and six grandchildren. Two of his sons are well known in the industry: director Andy Tennant, a noted feature filmmaker (e.g.—Anna And The King, Fools Rush In) who has diversified into spot directing via Hollywood-based Level 7 (SHOOT, 10/26, p. 1); and Tim Tennant, president of integrated creative services company Aspect, which has several holdings and maintains a joint venture relationship with Level 7….
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 โ 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