ORLANDO-AFI/Filmworks, Miami, has expanded its Florida reach, opening an office in Orlando. The new digs are located at Universal Studios, Orlando.
"As a Florida-based production company, it’s important to us to have a presence in Orlando," said Bill Randall, VP of AFI/Filmworks. "AFI/Filmworks has been shooting in the Orlando area for many years and we decided it’s time we had a permanent home here."
Randall also cited the advantages to being at Universal Studios which he described as "an L.A. style production facility on the East Coast with everything at our fingertips. We feel that our clients will benefit tremendously from having our proven production expertise available on a full time basis here in Central Florida."
At press time, Randall was in the process of determining who will be staffing the Orlando operation. He lately has been shuttling back and forth between AFI/Filmworks’ Miami and Orlando bases.
In its 30 years of business, AFI/Filmworks has established itself in the spot arena, working for such advertisers as Procter & Gamble, NYNEX, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Kraft, Goodyear and Carnival Cruise Lines.
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