Bicoastal Union Editorial has expanded its long-form and feature film services with the addition of Noah Haeussner as head of entertainment development. Haeussner comes over from Level 1 Promotion, where he served as director of national promotions for film and TV.
An editorial shop with a roster experienced in commercials, music videos, features and trailers, Union diversifies and now becomes a full-service marketing and postproduction house in the feature arena. The company has been awarded its first project in this capacity, handling the entire marketing campaign for Obselidia, the feature debut from director Dianne Bell, which recently screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
“This is a natural evolution for Union,” said Union partner/executive producer Michael Raimondi. “Many of the additions to our roster over the last couple of years have contributed to this moment.” Union partner/editor Sloane Klevin co-produced and edited the Oscar, Emmy, and Peabody Award-Winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, for example; editor Jinx Godfrey cut the Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire; and partner/editor Jim Haygood (Fight Club, Where the Wild Things Are) is currently editing the feature Tron. Union recently completed work on trailers for high profile TV projects like HBO’s Addiction and True Blood.
While at Level 1, Haeussner developed and managed a number of online and offline marketing initiatives for films such as Speed Racer, The Dark Knight (Harvey Dent campaign), Angels & Demons, and The Taking of Pelham 123. He previously headed up the film marketing department at StreetWise Concepts & Culture, a youth-oriented marketing firm, where he developed and executed national campaigns for Warner Bros.’ 300, I Am Legend, Get Smart, and Paramount Pictures’ Beowulf. Roles as marketing manager at National Lampoon and in public relations with Bender/Helper Impact working with such clients as 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. and MGM Home Entertainment, round out Haeussner’s professional experience.
Haeussner said that his background in marketing and brand integration, paired with Union’s experience in the advertising arena, makes Union’s entertainment division an ideal branding partner for studios. “My counterparts at the studios had been very interested in the notion of a one-stop shop for the marketing of their films,” Haeussner recalled. “There have tended to be a lot of middle men in this process, and we offer a streamlined vision and concept for feature marketing; we can edit your epk, do the print, create the online presence, handle offline marketing activities, and, of course, edit trailers and TV spots.”
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