HSI Productions has signed director Alex Ogus for representation in the U.S. and U.K. He continues to be handled in Canada by Industry Films.
Ogus made his first major mark in 2007 when The Fight Network campaign he helmed for Cossette Communications-Marketing in Toronto won a Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival. That same year he earned inclusion into SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase and secured his first U.S. representation via Santa Monica-based TWC, his roost prior to now coming aboard the HSI roster.
The Fight Network package was comedy/dialogue fare, centering on an average guy’s idiotic quest to pick a fight with anyone in his immediate vicinity.
Ogus’ spot filmography also includes noted work for Xbox, Newcastle Brown Ale, Smarties, Time Warner and Media Markt. Among his most recent exploits at TWC was Asics’ “Ping Pong Ball Shoe” via The Vitro Agency for which nearly 3,000 ping pong balls–some colored white, others black and orange–were strung onto 784 strands of fishing line and lifted two feet off the ground by a pair of industrial air compresses and 24 air valves. They levitate to form a Gel-Blur 33 Asics shoe, underscoring a message scrawled on a nearby chalkboard which reads, “Gravity. Meet Your Archenemy.”
The help of aerospace engineer Ryan Wilson was enlisted for the project. He designed the rig facilitating the in-camera attainment of the desired visuals, which is a sharp departure from what would be the norm for such a job, intense post manipulation and effects. Both Ogus and the creative ensemble at Vitro agreed that catching the spirit of this commercial concept “live” was essential to the vision coming to life for the audience. The shoe became a work of art while handling the commerce side by positioning the GEL-Blur 33 as seemingly lighter than air.
The DP was Helge Gerull.
The Vitro team included executive creative director John Vitro, creative director K.T. Thayer, art directors Kevin Lukens, David Reyes and Ali Filsoof, copywriter Schuyler Vanden Bergh, and producer Mickey Strider.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More