Anonymous Content has signed award-winning comedy director Brian Billow for commercial representation as well as film and TV management. Billow’s body of work is versatile across the comedy genre, spanning performance, dialogue and visually driven storytelling. Honored this year with a One Show Silver Pencil for Walmart’s “Baby Comedian” (The Martin Agency) and a Bronze Lion for GameStop’s “Yay” (The Richards Group), Billow has an industry pedigree that also includes honored work as a creative director at DDB Chicago and McCann Erickson NY for brands such as MasterCard, Budweiser and Wrigley’s.
Billow’s directorial credits include spots for Paddy Power (Crispin Porter + Bogusky), Miracle Whip (mcgarrybowen, Chicago) and White Pages (Clemenger BBDO). He has also directed notable spots for Nike, Chicago White Sox, Honda, Keystone Beer, McDonald’s, M&Ms and IKEA.
He formerly was at Hungry Man which signed him back in 2008, just prior to his gaining inclusion into that year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase at the DGA Theatre in New York.
Eric Stern, sr. executive producer at Anonymous Content, said that Billow offers “a unique, understated and subtle comedic style” which is “a great complement to our roster that tends to get a lot of attention for big visual storytelling. He’s someone I have had my eye on since he was a creative director.”
Billow is managed for film and TV by Anonymous Content’s Bard Dorros and Luke Rivett.
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