Director Robert Jitzmark has signed with Santa Monica-based Green Dot Films and just wrapped his first project there, a California Lottery :30 titled “Hot Streak” for agency David&Goliath. Jitzmark joins Green Dot Films from Hungry Man. He is also a partner at the Swedish production company Camp David, which was founded together with five other colleagues in 2003.
Jitzmark’s latest spot, for both TV and the web, opens on a Sierra Nevada stream during the California Gold Rush, where rival prospectors pan for gold on opposite banks. Suddenly, the grizzled older prospector pulls a sizable nugget from his pan. Wide-eyed, he reaches down to find still more riches–a golden pocket watch, golden spectacles, golden horseshoes for his donkey and, finally, a golden bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. All the while, the younger prospector looks on in disbelief, jealously muttering “Oh, come on!” as the 49er whoops with delight. We then cut to a nearby town as the older prospector rides his donkey to market atop a golden chariot laden with enough solid gold trinkets and jewelry to make a rap star blush. As townsfolk view him with awe, a beautiful senorita gazes at the spectacle adoringly. The old prospector turns to her and salutes as the tagline “Going On A Hot Streak Has Never Been Easier” appears supered on the screen. The spot ends with a product shot of a California Lottery Scratchers ticket against a rustic wooden background with the words: “6 games. 1 Ticket.”
Jitzmark and DP Par Ekberg worked together to shoot the period piece on 35mm with panoramic lenses in order to achieve a vintage Technicolor look. The director’s notable work over the years includes a series of Mini Cooper spots such as the wild ride of Mini vs Monster, the just released McDonald’s “Fire Sprinkler” ad via DDB, a package of commercials for Puma in the U.S. and Europe, a well-received series of commercials for Inpes condoms for the French Ministry of Health, Peugeot, IKEA, Vybemobile (starring Snoop Dogg), Sony PlayStation, Falcon Beer, Canal+ and MTV. In 2009 Jitzmark’s spots for Swedish Fish won gold at the ADC Festival in New York.
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