Sibling Films–part of the New York and Los Angeles studio-agency Sibling Rivalry–has added Andrew Winghart to its roster of directors. Sibling Films becomes Winghart’s first official home for commercials. The company will also rep him for music videos.
Winghart directed, choreographed, produced, and composed the original score for his most recent project, Step Into the Light. Centering around a group of dancers from Columbia, Missouri, the film is set in a state-of-the-art basketball training facility (the Mizzou Arena). Winghart transformed the location for the shoot, making use of extensive scenic light elements, fabric, and camera placement to explore the dancers in their environment.
With a background in choreography and prior collaborations with artists including Lorde, Muse, Solange, and Billie Eilish, Winghart’s directorial style is strongly influenced by music and movement.
Winghart said, “There is something beautiful and intimate in the ephemeral nature of a live performance. I am increasingly interested in trying to capture the human emotion at the root of these heavily constructed environments. My work is certainly theatrical in scale and context, sometimes severe in its aesthetics but ideally welcoming and engaging to all types of audiences.”
As for his new roost, Sibling Films, Winghart shared, “I was very drawn to the sense of vitality and dedication to the craft so clearly present at the company. Moving forward, my goal is to challenge myself and extend beyond the staple signifiers of my own work. Sibling Rivalry’s enthusiasm for exploration gives me this freedom.”
Darren Foldes, partner and managing director at Sibling Films, said, “As the scope of creative briefs continually evolve, we’re always seeking to enhance and build out the range of styles and approaches on our directorial roster, especially when directors are this gifted. Andrew’s distinct aesthetic lens, so uniquely rooted in music and movement, simply took my breath away.”
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