“New York City’s production industry continues to grow, with 31,570 location shooting days in 2005, which represents a 35 percent increase from the year prior,” Katherine Oliver, commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, said. “So far this year, numerous commercials have shot in New York, for clients including American Express, Barnes & Noble, FreshDirect, Goldman Sachs & Co., Hershey’s, Honda, Maybelline, McDonalds, Microsoft, the New York Lottery, Panasonic, Pizza Hut, Porsche, Reebok, Sprint, Staples, Verizon, VH1 and Victoria’s Secret.”
Last week, the MOFTB announced the launch of “Hot Shots,” an online photo library on www.nyc.gov/film which gives producers and location managers instant access to a catalog of city-owned beaches, bridges, courthouses, highways, jails, military, police and fire facilities, parks and playgrounds, public spaces, and streets and intersections throughout the five boroughs which the city offers free of charge for production. Go to for more info: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/020306_nyc_hotshots.shtml
On June 7, 2005, the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting launched the “Made in NY” discount card, which has grown to include over 400 vendors offering discounts to the production industry. The card lowers the cost of production in New York City and connects local businesses to the revenue generated by our $5 billion entertainment industry. Discounts are now available in 27 categories, including: Banking services, camera, grip and lighting, casting, electronics, construction and set design, digital effects, flowers and gifts, restaurants, hair, makeup and wardrobe, hotels, rental space, music, office supplies, postproduction and training, production crew, props, scenic supplies, stock footage and photography, and travel and transportation. Well over 100 productions took advantage of the “Made in NY” discount card from June-December 2005. Click here for more info: http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/discounts/discounts_home.shtml
NYC continues to offer to commercials such advantages as free permits, free police assistance and free access to city property, as well as sales tax exemptions on production goods and services.
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