MediaMonks has signed director Ismael ten Heuvel, represented by its film director roster TheBoardRoom. With the addition of the filmmaker—known more widely in the industry as the mono-monikered Ismael–Media Monks solidifies its stance as a full-service production company from technical and rich media through to VR/AR, animations, campaigns and film. The company handles Ismael worldwide except for The Netherlands where he works through his production house Pink Rabbit.
Ismael is best known for his work for brands such as McDonald’s (“Manifest”), Volkswagen (“The Way Back”), and most recently Heineken (“The Invention”), for which extensive postproduction processes were used in order to recreate an authentic vision of Paris in 1889. Ismael’s work has garnered honors including Cannes Lions and Epica Awards. Before switching over to directing, Ismael worked as an art director at Lowe Amsterdam for 10 years.
“I am thrilled that Ismael is joining our international network, while still doing work for his own production house in The Netherlands. He brings along beautiful craft, experience, and phenomenal work, such as the new international Heineken film,” said Jacques Vereecken, creative producer and partner of The Boardroom. “The fact that he has been an advertising creative means that he has an opinion and conceptually thinks along with the script. His specialty is storytelling and can be applied to a wide range of brands, which is clearly evident in his latest work for Heineken.”
MediaMonks’ film directorial roster is represented as TheBoardRoom, part of the MediaMonks network. TheBoardRoom offers clients a full-service live-action visual content resource covering everything from serious drama, absurd humor and fashion and beauty, to documentary short films and interactive storytelling. TheBoardRoom has been recognized by Cannes Lions, Eurobest, ADCN awards, Spin Awards and won the Dutch TV Audience Award (Golden Loeki 2014).
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