By BY MILLIE TAKAKI
CULVER CITY, Calif.-Tracy Hauser is exiting her post as executive producer at Culver City-based Pavlov Productions, the commercial division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). She will be succeeded by Paul Kawasaki, Pavlov’s head of production. At press time, Hauser and Kawasaki were working together to ensure what the latter described as "a smooth transition."
The reason behind Hauser’s departure is not publicly known. She was unavailable for comment at press time. In a released statement, Hauser-who helped launch Sony’s spot operation in 1996-said, "It’s been great to work with the talent at Pavlov Productions, for whom I have tremendous respect. Having developed the company to its current level and recognizing what my goals and visions are, I felt it was time to move on, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my commercial production career."
Ken Williams, president of SPE’s Digital Studio division, credited Hauser with helping Sony "establish a strong presence in the commercial arena." Before opening Pavlov under the auspices of SPE, Hauser was a visual effects manager on the blockbuster hit Total Recall and head of spot production at now defunct Boss Film Studios from 1992 to ’95.
Hauser now hands over the Pavlov reins to Kawasaki, who’s well-versed in the operation and is no stranger to being promoted at the company. He was upped from staff producer to head of production last March, and his responsibilities have included staff supervision and oversight of a broad range of commercial projects from bidding through delivery.
Prior to Pavlov, Kawasaki worked freelance from 1993 to ’95, producing commercials for numerous Southern California production houses, including bicoastal Bedford Falls’ Santa Monica office and the aforementioned Boss Film.
Pavlov produces live action, visual effects and combo spots, and it maintains an affiliation with Sony Pictures Imageworks, Culver City, an effects studio. Pavlov’s commercial directorial roster consists of Sergio Amon, Barnaby Jackson, John Lindauer, Marty Weiss and Rupert Wainwright. The company is repped by Los Angeles-based Ron Blair Represents on the West Coast, Chicago-based Bill Rabin & Associates in the Midwest and Nancy Workman’s New York-based Workman on the East Coast.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More