French directorial and design collective Wizz has joined the roster of New York animation production company Blacklist for U.S. representation. Paris-based Wizz has already wrapped its first job in collaboration with Blacklist–Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Founded in 1999, Wizz was initially a postproduction and visual effects branch for its sister company Quad Productions. Wizz’s clientele has since expanded to incorporate other productions with ad agencies or directly with clients. Mixed media studio Wizz now consists of more than 30 full-time employees including two teams of production and post directors, as well as graphic artists, Flame artists and developers. Over the last three years, Wizz has represented and developed 15 directors. Apart from various advertising projects, Wizz has also produced shorts and films.
Among the key players at Wizz are chief creative officer/co-founder Francois Brun, executive producer Cyril Couve de Murville, and producers Amanda Stubbs, Matthieu Poirier and Olivier Domerc.
According to Blacklist exec producer Andrew Linsk, Wizz has a second round with Goodby on Yahoo! Mail, this time a four-spot package slated to break in early May. Blacklist and Wizz also teamed on a cinema project for Orville Redenbacher out of Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, and are currently in production on a global Energizer campaign via TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles.
Here’s Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” directed by Wizz’s Deubal:
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