Director S.R. “Robb” Bindler, a documentary and feature filmmaker whose spot clients include Nokia, Visa, Ford, Coca-Cola and Intel, has signed with Chelsea. Bindler was most recently represented by Savant Film and prior to that had a long tenure in the ad arena with Nonfiction Unlimited.
Bindler made his first major career splash with the quirky 1997 documentary Hands On A Hard Body, which chronicled an annual competition in Longview, Texas, where 24 contestants compete to win a pickup truck. All they have to do is be the last person standing with a hand still touching the truck in a battle of endurance that goes on for days.
The director later diversified into commercials and other projects. In ’08, he wrote and directed Surfer Dude starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.
Chelsea’s L.A.-based partner Allison Amon said she had been tracking Bindler’s work ever since she saw Hands on a Hard Body. New York-based Chelsea partner Lisa Mehling cited Bindler’s “comedic chops and eye for natural detail” as drawing her to the director who makes his home in Los Angeles.
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