Director Matt Ogens–who made his first major ad industry mark back in 2005 when he was included in SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase as well as Y&R New York’s Young Guns emerging directors showcase–has joined the roster of Tool of North America. He comes over from Rabbit.
Since his initial showcase splash, Ogens has gone on to shape a career spanning multiple disciplines: assorted commercials; the well received feature-length documentary Confessions of a Superhero (centered on the dreams of stardom and backstories of Hollywood Blvd. street performers who portray costumed comic book superheros); Toyota’s third season of The Line of Scrimmage, the documentary shorts series from Saatchi & Saatchi LA that appeared during halftime of NBC’s Sunday Night Football; a web docu short series True Stories for Hitachi and McCann Erickson, San Francisco; and television fare such as ESPN series Timeless, which received two Sports Emmy nominations (he had earlier done ESPN’s The Life), segments from the awards show CNN Heroes, and sequences of a Victoria’s Secret fashion show for CBS.
Among Ogens’ other notable projects was being selected by the Red Cross as one of a handful of filmmakers assigned to document the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. He shared his experiences on that job with SHOOT‘s readership in an October ’05 column titled “Gulf Coast Diary,” a moving account which resonates to this day as the fifth year anniversary of Katrina and Rita is nearly upon us. More recently. Ogens documented the behind-the-scenes goings on at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon.
Ogens’ filmmaking chops were evident prior to his becoming known in the ad biz in ’05. While a student a Tulane University, he directed and produced Ray of Hope, a documentary principally shot behind the walls of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Ogens went on to also direct the documentary Harvest which was released in ’01, and a VH-1 pilot, Players, profiling hip-hop artist Ludicris in ’03.
Prior to Rabbit, Ogens’ commercial production house roosts included the former HKM and Headquarters, the latter shop having produced the work which helped him gain entry into the ’05 SHOOT New Directors Showcase: Wildaid’s “Defense” spot for JWT New York, and Ping Golf’s “Ticket” for The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Ogens is also a noted print photographer, underscoring the visual acumen exhibited in his spot, TV and documentary pursuits. His documentarian skillset translates into emotionally charged storytelling and insights into people from varied walks of life, qualities evident in his commercialmaking and branded content endeavors.
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