Adventure filmmakers Kyler and Kody McCormick have joined STORY for advertising projects. The McCormick Brothers, who have directed commercials, branded content and social media for Southwest Airlines, Canon, Camping World, Hilton, Adobe and others, are seeking to tap STORY’s relationships with ad agencies nationwide to gain more opportunities to apply their unique style of inspirational storytelling.
STORY executive producers Mark Androw and Cliff Grant were impressed with the Telly Award-winning McCormick Brothers’ drive and polished skills as visual storytellers. “They are young go-getters who obviously have a bright future,” said Grant. “We like their enthusiasm and the energy they invest in their work. We’re excited to introduce them to the broader advertising industry.”
Kody McCormick says that he and his brother feel a strong connection with Androw and Grant and are enthused over joining a company with a track record for successfully launching commercial directors. “We like to work with people who love what they do as much as we do,” he observed. “We met Cliff through a mutual industry friend, Brian Clark, and hit it off. We immediately began looking for a way to work together. We feel this alliance will open doors for us.”
Based in Chicago, Kyler and Kody McCormick have been working as a directing team for seven years. Through their production company, The Outbound Life, they have produced a diverse body of lifestyle work, encompassing tourism, adventure travel and extreme sports, and noteworthy for its cinematic scope and passionate narrative.
Among recent projects is a commercial for Southwest Airlines related to its sponsorship of Discovery’s popular Shark Week. The brothers, who are brand ambassadors for Southwest, captured behind-the-scenes footage of Discovery film crews working with sharks off the coast of the Bahamas. The brothers received a Shorty Award nomination for a project for Southwest’s social media team.
For Camping World, the McCormick Brothers created a four-minute documentary about their 2,000 mile road trip across the Country. They filmed themselves rock climbing, hang gliding, and hiking through Monument Valley, Utah and other iconic locations.
“We grew up traveling and visiting beautiful places and developed a passion for experiencing nature in a raw form,” recalled Kody. “As filmmakers, we want to get out in those places as much as possible and tell stories that express our zest for life.”
In addition to their work as filmmakers, the McCormick Brothers produce a podcast where they interview thought leaders from diverse walks of life. They have appeared as speakers on the TEDx stage and elsewhere. “All of our work is adventure-oriented, inherently optimistic and hopeful,” said Kyler. “Many of our clients have reached out to us, attracted by the uplifting feeling of what we do. We love to inspire through our work.”
STORY also represents directors Ky Dickens, Blair Hayes, John Komnenich, Ron Lazzeretti, Jane Lynch, Rich Michell, David Orr, Andy Richter, Joe Schaak and Kevin Smith.
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