Optimus scored big at the Midwest Independent Film Festival‘s 2011 Best of the Midwest Awards (BMAs), which took place on Dec. 6 in Chicago. Optimus editor/partner Randy Palmer took home the Best Editing award with Brooks Ruyle for their work on Ballhawks, the documentary by Mike Diedrich, who took home the Best Director BMA for his role on the film.
Ballhawks tells the story of the ballhawks who have been chasing baseballs and dreams just outside the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field for the last 90 years. It was a passion project for Diedrich, Palmer, and all those involved in the film, which began development in 2004.
“The BMAs for our work on Ballhawks were a testament to the years of dedication and commitment that went into this documentary,” said Palmer. “It truly was a labor of love, and we’re honored to have been recognized by the Midwest Independent Film Festival for our work on it.”
The BMAs recognize the premier films and filmmakers featured during this year’s Midwest Independent Film Festival, which holds its screenings every first Tuesday of the month in Chicago. This year-round film festival sits proudly at the center of the independent film scene in Chicago and the Midwest, and is dedicated to celebrating and strengthening that community. BMA winners were chosen via online balloting from both the public and the festival’s Awards Jury.
ONE at Optimus directors Logan Hall and Mark Pallman also were nominated for BMAs in the Best Music Video category.
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