Production house HELLO! And Company, which maintains divisions specializing in commercials, music videos, entertainment, branded content and 3D, has inked a deal in the latter arena with Front Row Networks (FRN), a Los Angeles-based concert production and distribution company. The first as yet unannounced project stemming from this production financing and distribution agreement will be seen initially in theaters and then available for all other distribution opportunities worldwide.
“We are pleased to be working with HELLO! to help FRN source and produce premium 3D music content. Our first project will be a unique experience for 3D programming,” said John Diaz, CEO of FRN and its publicly traded parent company, Writers’ Group Film Corp.
Kerri Kleiner, executive producer of 3D content for HELLO!, stated, “As artists are looking to discover innovative ways to reach a bigger audience, 3-D concert films will be the next level concert experience. HELLO! is looking forward to reaching that audience with the experience of Front Row Networks in the live concert production and distribution sectors.”
Launched in June 2008, HELLO! is a boutique production company conceived from the creators of HKM, The Director’s Bureau, and Cosmo Street Editorial. HELLO! maintains a directorial roster that has turned out notable work for ad agencies and brands worldwide.
FRN is a live concert production and distribution company which produces live concerts in 3D for initial digital broadcast into movie theaters in North America . Following their theatrical run, the films are then licensed to US and international broadcasters, pay channels, PPV markets, DVD and Blu-Ray distributors, and sold on the Internet as downloads.
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