By Robert Goldrich
GLENDALE, Calif. --United Airlines’ “Interview,” directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis of Acme Filmworks, Hollywood, for Fallon, Minneapolis, topped the spot category at the 32nd annual Annie Awards competition, which recognizes outstanding achievements in animation. The Annies were presented by the Burbank-headquartered International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) during an awards ceremony on Jan. 30 in Glendale.
Named best animation ad of 2004 by Annie judges, “Interview” won out over four other nominees: AFLAC’s “Looney Tunes” directed by Jennifer Ferris and Richard Shagan of Warner Bros. Animation, Burbank, for The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York; Nintendo’s “Free Boy” helmed by Nathan McGuinness of Asylum, Santa Monica, for Leo Burnett USA, Chicago; Reebok’s “Above The Rim” directed by Tim Miller of Blur Studio, Venice, Calif., for The Arnell Group, New York; and Quaker Chewy Fruit ‘N Crunch Bars’ “Three Bears” with CG animation directed by Steve Talkowski of bicoastal Hornet (live action was directed by Russ Lamoureux of bicoastal/international Hungry Man) for Element 79 Partners, Chicago.
A SHOOT “Top Spot” last year (4/2/04, p. 10), “Interview” is no stranger to accolades, having been nominated for the primetime commercial Emmy Award in ’04. (The Emmy winner was Citibank’s “Outfit,” a live-action spot directed by Kevin Thomas of Thomas Thomas Films, London, for Fallon, Minneapolis.)
The United Airlines’ :60 opens on a man pulling up a window shade. It’s morning and he has just awakened. While his dog lounges in bed, the man tries on a variety of neckties in an effort to achieve the right look. We then see a plane soaring through the sky, followed by a cab pulling up to a big city office building. The man gets into an elevator. When he looks down, he notices that he has on two different color dress shoes–one black, one brown. Flustered by the fashion faux pas–especially after paying so much attention to his wardrobe–he sits down at a table and is interviewed by a panel of three people. After the grilling session is over, the man is seen walking down the street, looking dejected. Clearly, he feels he has blown his big opportunity.
Then his cell phone rings. He answers it and jumps into the air jubilantly–it turns out he got the job after all. Cut to a shot of a United stewardess walking down the aisle of the plane. She spots the man napping in his seat–a smile on his face–and pulls down the window shade next to him. A parting voiceover relates, “Where you go in life is up to you. There’s an airline that can take you there–United. It’s time to fly.”
Accompanying and advancing the story is United’s anthem, George Gershwin’s classic “Rhapsody in Blue.” A special version of Rhapsody–to reflect the emotional peaks and valleys in “Interview”–was arranged and produced by Elizabeth Myers and John Trivers of Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
The Acme Filmworks ensemble of talent on “Interview” included directors/painters/Flash animators Tilby and Forbis; executive producer Ron Diamond; producer Holly Stone; supervising technical director/compositor/digital clean-up/matte cutter Michael O’Donnell; compositor/digital clean-up/matte cutter Scott Coleman; digital clean-up/matte cutting artists Carrie Kost and Ryan Wheaty; painter/Flash animator Louise Johnson; painters Anjan Bhatt, Tim Westbury, Deborah Tilby, Joel Parod, Gina Georgousis and Joan Doyle; Flash animators Anna Saunders, Claire Armstrong-Parod and Rinat Gazizov; and editor George Khair.
The Fallon team consisted of worldwide creative director David Lubars (who has since become chairman/chief creative officer of BBDO North America, New York); creative director Bruce Bilstein; group creative director Stuart D’Rozario; art director Bob Barrie; Brian DiLorenzo, director of broadcast/North America; senior producer Kate Talbott; and producer Sofia Akinyele-Trokey.
Bill Coffin and Joe Cook of Post Logic Studios, Hollywood, served as Inferno artist and colorist, respectively. Audio mixer was Jimmy Hite of Margarita Mix de Santa Monica.
The Annie Awards competition honors outstanding animation achievement in features, TV programs, commercials, home entertainment and short subjects/special projects. The big winner was Pixar’s The Incredibles (best animated feature, best character animation, best animated effects, best director, writing and voice acting for Brad Bird, best music, best production design, best storyboarding). Copping the Annie for best animated TV show was Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants. Walt Disney Pictures’ Lorenzo was named best animated short subject film.
ASIFA is the French acronym for Association Internationale du Film d’Animation, an organization founded 49 years ago in France by a group of professional animators. ASIFA was chartered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in ’60 to encourage the art of animation and to further international understanding and goodwill through the animation medium. Currently, there are ASIFA chapters in some 30 countries. The Hollywood chapter was founded in ’72.
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