The Mill L.A. has brought on board Stephen Venning as executive producer/new business, Tim Davies as VFX supervisor/lead Flame artist, and LaRue Anderson as producer, telecine.
Venning comes over from The Mill London where he spent the past 10 years as an executive producer and played an instrumental role in growing that facility’s 3D department. There he also exec produced this year’s Cannes Grand Prix-winning Nike spot, “Write The Future” directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and produced by Independent Films, London, and bicoastal Anonymous Content for Wieden+Kennedy, London and Amsterdam. Over the years Venning has overseen projects for such global brands as Nike, Pepsi, Axe/Lynx, Mercedes and Sony. He was also part of the team behind the iconic Sony “Balls” commercial, Guinness’ “Tipping Point” and Mercedes-Benz’s “Clouds.”
Davies spent six years at the now defunct Asylum as VFX supervisor/lead Flame artist. He then did a stint as lead Flame artist for The Mill N.Y. where he supervised projects such as Bud Light’s Super Bowl spot “Dog Sitter” directed by Baker Smith of Harvest, which ranked No. 1 in USA Today‘s 2011 Super Bowl Ad Meter poll. After Asylum, Davies also wrapped some work via Method. Since joining The Mill L.A, Davies has been working on upcoming spots for Old Spice. Among Davies’ notable credits are serving as VFX supervisor on the lauded HBO integrated “Voyeur” campaign directed by Jake Scott of RSA for BBDO New York, and as VFX supervisor/lead compositor on a pair of Apple iPhone campaigns directed by David Fincher via Anonymous Content. Davies also contributed to many of Asylum’s feature film and design projects, including the main titles for National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and a key four-minute sequence in Terminator Salvation.
And Anderson is producing projects for The Mill L.A.’s new telecine division headed up by veteran colorist Adam Scott. Currently she is working on jobs directed by Stacy Wall, Peter Thwaites and Tom Hooper. Wall of production house Imperial Woodpecker won this year’s DGA Award for Best Commercial Director of 2010. Thwaites of Gorgeous Enterprises, London, and Anonymous Content earlier won the same DGA honor for calendar year 2008. And Hooper, who directs commercials vis Smuggler, earned this year’s DGA Award as Best Feature Director of 2010 on the strength of The King’s Speech.
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