Two of the Eastern seaboard states hardest hit by Hurricane Irene remarkably emerged relatively unscathed when it came to their filmmaking business. That was the word from Aaron Syrett and Joe Bookchin, the film commissioners of North Carolina and Vermont, respectively.
Syrett noted, “All productions are up and running. Two productions took a day off on Friday (8/26) as a precaution in preparations for the storm….There wasn’t any damage to our studio facilities. Business as usual today.”
While footage of significant flooding in parts of Vermont was prevalent in news coverage, entertainment filming activity hasn’t been adversely affected as of yet, according to Bookchin. “New information is still coming in–but there are no major setbacks that I know of so far,” he reported.
Bookchin related that the biggest Irene-triggered entertainment/arts casualty in Vermont has to this point has been a new stage musical, Saint-Ex, which was continuing its run at The Weston Playhouse in the city of Weston. The facility was overrun this past Sunday with between six and 12 feet of water in various lower levels of the theater. The grand piano used for the show was destroyed when the orchestra pit was flooded. The overflow was from the nearby West River.
Escaping the worst of Irene, Washington, D.C. still had plans scrapped for what was to have been Sunday’s dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial. Extensive filming of the event was scheduled, including a documentary which was postponed.
Irene’s impact was also felt at last weekend’s box office with people all along the East Coast holed up in their residences. Initial estimates are that domestic movie theater receipts dropped some 20 percent due to Irene.
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