Directorial Moves
Blueyed Pictures, Los Angeles, has entered into a relationship with executive producer Chris Buckley and his roster of designers, animators and effects directors from around the world, including the No Brain animation crew from Paris and helmer Johan Rimer. Buckley will head a yet-to-be-named in-house satellite shop at Blueyed….
Swedish director Henrik Hallgren has come aboard Compulsive Pictures, New York, for spot representation in the U.S. He’s been considered a rising star in Europe since he began helming work for Stockholm-based production house Atmosfar last year. Hallgren is perhaps best known for his international Sprite commercial, “Hamster,” which was shortlisted at the 2004 Cannes International Advertising Festival….
Czar.US has signed New York based-director Mark Tiedemann, formerly of bicoastal Celsius Films. Founded in 1991, the Amsterdam-based Czar has since added offices in Brussels, Berlin and New York. The latter U.S. operation re-established its New York office in late ’03….
Director Mike Wang, formerly of V12, Santa Monica, has joined CFM International, New York…..
London-based M-A-D-E has inked a representation deal with Manifesto Films, which maintains shops in Zurich, Switzerland, and Vancouver B.C. Per the arrangement, director Reto Salimbeni, Manifesto’s founder, will be handled in the U.K. by M-A-D-E. In turn, Manifesto will platform M-A-D-E’s directors in Switzerland and Canada, including the New York-based helming team Suk & Koch….
Director Jaume Collet-Serra, who recently signed with bicoastal/international Believe Media for commercials, has seen the release of his first feature film, House of Wax, a remake of the ’53 horror film of the same title…..
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