Director Joachim Back, who won a Best Short Film Oscar in 2010 for his The New Tenants, has joined Anonymous Content for commercial representation, as well as film and TV management. He comes over from Park Pictures, which produced The New Tenants starring Vincent D’Onofrio. Back has also earned accolades in the ad biz, including a D&AD Pencil for Chivas Regal’s darkly comedic branded short Here’s to Big Bear, and a Cannes Gold Lion for Viagara’s “Beep” campaign.
Back began his career in his native Denmark, working in feature films in the camera and lighting departments, and as an assistant editor. His award-winning work in advertising over the last decade also spans such brands as Audi, Stella Artois, Range Rover and Honda.
Back is repped for film and television by Tariq Merhab at Anonymous Content, and Todd Feldman and Matt Martin at CAA.
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 โ 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