Deitchman Hired For Big Apple, Uemura For Tokyo
The Directors Network (TDN), an Encino-headquartered shop that represents freelance directors and DPs, is extending its reach domestically and internationally. Under the aegis of president Steve Lewis who founded the company 20 years ago, TDN has secured veteran producer Dan Deitchman as senior VP to head up a just launched office in New York.
Additionally, freelance producer and longtime TDN client Nick Uemura has been commissioned to represent the company’s talent to Japanese production houses. Uemura gives TDN a foothold in Tokyo.
According to Lewis, TDN is looking to commission an agent in each of the major foreign markets. “Not only will they represent our directors but each will take on a few of their countries’ directors to rep locally,” related Lewis. “We will also represent them [directors from foreign markets] throughout our global network of reps, including in the U.S. Our main talent base will always be U.S. directors but we will be looking for specialty directors worldwide to enhance our current roster.”
TDN is currently in talks with agents in Toronto and Hamburg. Lewis noted that China and Korea are key markets that will soon be coming online. He added that plans also call for TDN to expand into Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Recent signings of U.S. talent by TDN include fashion director/DP Iain McLean, home products director Georgia Tanner, kids/toys helmer Steven Dunning, directorial/DP team Squeeze and DP Eric Tramp.
The addition of McLean to a core of East Coast directors/DPs Jeff Weiser, Jon Fauer and Abby Dix prompted Lewis’ decision to set up a New York shop for TDN.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