Filmmaker also joins Holiday Films for Canadian work
Bicoastal Humble, headed by president/exec producer Eric Berkowitz, has added filmmaker and commercial director Matt Ogens to its roster. He joins Humble from Tool of North America. Alongside his move to Humble, Ogens has also signed with Toronto-based Holiday Films for Canadian representation.
Ogens got his start directing long form docu-series for networks including MTV, VH1, CBS, and CNN, and earned three Emmy nominations for his work on ESPN. His feature documentary “Confessions of a Superhero” debuted at SXSW to critical acclaim and was picked up for distribution by Morgan Spurlock’s documentary label. Ogens segued into commercials, working with top agencies and brands and racking up awards from The One Show, Clio, SXSW Interactive, and ADC for his “Screw*d” interactive campaign for Craftsman. He continues to work across both commercials and long form entertainment, recently directing “From Harlem with Love” for ESPN’s Emmy-winning “30 for 30” series, and preparing to release his second feature documentary “Meet the Hitlers,” which explores the impact of names on personal identity. His latest commercial projects include “This World” for Ford via Team Detroit and “Every Mile Matters” for Mitsubishi via 180LA.
“Advertising is changing and you have to be able to offer short form, long form, interactive content and more, and I was drawn to Humble because they’re a nimble shop that can do it all,” commented Ogens. “Humble is on an incredible trajectory right now and I’m excited to be joining the company as it reaches critical mass from coast to coast.”
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