Alessandro Pacciani, a prolific director in international advertising, has signed with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s production house Chromista for exclusive commercialmaking representation in the U.S. Pacciani was previously repped in the American ad market by 1stAveMachine.
The director is best known for his action packed car campaigns and for his work on the critically acclaimed video game Dark Souls II. With over a decade of experience working on three continents, Pacciani has cultivated a global roster of clients including Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Nike, Toyota, Nissan, Jeep, Subaru, Honda and Samsung. His works have garnered assorted honors including a UNESCO award, as well as showcased at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Prior to his directing career, Pacciani developed a strong foothold in design, animation, and visual effects. Those skills allowed him to establish his own signature look through blending digital technology and high-octane visuals with cinematic storytelling.
“We fell in love with Alessandro’s work because it’s aesthetically beautiful and he is able to tell a story through striking imagery,” said Scott Franklin, Aronofsky’s longtime features producer and Chromista partner. “You can see the artistry through the attention to detail that is put into every aspect from art direction, lighting, casting and complemented through sound design, edit and enhanced through visual effects and color. He stands out as a filmmaker and storyteller.”
Chromista was founded in 2013 by Academy Award nominated director Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler) and partners Franklin, Sandy Haddad and Ted Robbins. Pacciani rounds out a roster that includes, Aronofsky, Xavier Mairesse, Marcelo Burgos, Kasra Farahani, Daniel Portrait, Rory Kelleher and Josh Cole.
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