Co-Founder/Executive Producer
harvest films, inc.
1) Commercial production in California is down over 17% in the first 2 quarters of 2019 according to FILMLA. This trend sheds light on the amount of shooting that’s occurring offshore carrying implications that we’re still trying to understand, as it relates to local crews, vendors and actors. I also recognize the amount of non-union work being produced nationally and those implications challenge the union crews who rely on health insurance and P & W and most importantly a paycheck.
2) Nike stands above the crowd when communicating their POV and messaging that reflect our current culture. Their content is clear, concise and most importantly committed. They continue to thrive in a divisive world and their partnership with W+K stand out as a healthy and trusted client/agency team. Nike doesn’t chase or copy a message, they create their own messaging and it stands effective, relevant and memorable.
4) I think (and hope) our Presidential election in 2020 will heat up the second half of 2019 and I think people will want to engage their screens to access information. Election years have proven to be a time when our country gathers to watch debates and educate themselves on the issues and the candidates running for office. Our news outlets are under fire and so I think political advertising will take a big role and it’ll be interesting to see if it can accurately capture the tone(s) in our country.
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