SHORT CUTS
Hollywood-based production company pre?duk’shen director Eric Heimbold and executive producer Tony Frere have again teamed with the Baha Men to create "Best Years of Our Lives," the band’s new music video. Previously, Heimbold and Frere had worked on the breakout video "Who Let the Dogs Out?" for the Baha Men. "Best Years of Our Lives" is from the soundtrack to the feature Shrek, and mixes footage from the animated film with a performance from the band. Additional pre?duk’shen credits include Randi Wilens, executive producer; Joel Newman, producer; Crescenzo Notarile, DP; Amelia Hochberg, art director; Laura Holland, stylist; and Fusion, choreography.
Spontaneous Combustion, New York, created a show package for MTV’s Remember and Rebuild show which aired on Oct. 19. The special was hosted by Mayor Rudy Giuliani and MTV’s Carson Daly, and helped raise money for the children affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. Created in After Effects and Inferno, the show package opens with an unveiling of rich yellow beams, while throughout silhouettes of firefighters and the World Trade Center are softly blended to the background. Spontaneous’s Greg Kupiec was designer/animator.
Charlieuniformtango (CUT), Dallas and Austin, Texas, has been busy, posting commercials for Dairy Queen via Grey Worldwide, New York, and Giant Eagle for The Richards Group, Dallas. Dairy Queen’s "Cheeseburger Lovers $2.99/$3.99" and "Chicken Strip Basket/Blizzard $3.99" (:30s) was offlined by CUT’s Scott Hanson and onlined by Jim Ebele, with David Slack handling the graphics. The spots were directed by Jean-Marc Piche of Conspiracy Films, New York; Venice, Calif.; and Austin. Four Giant Eagle :30s-"Vest," "Time To Come In," "Dad’s Shopping Trip" and "Candy" were cut by Gigi Cone Welch of CUT, with Dave Laird as the online editor/visual effects artist. Audio mixer was CUT’s Russell Smith. The ads were directed by Tim Bieber of Chicago-based Mr. Big Productions.
MUSIC NOTES
Mitch Dorf of Santa Monica-based POP Sound mixed Hyundai’s "Launch" (:60) and "Psychic" (:30) for Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif. The ads, for Toyota’s Camry, were dircted by Phil Joanou of bicoastal Villains.
Hest & Kramer, Minneapolis, composed the track for ":15 Second Street," a spot for Chili’s Grill & Bar via GSD&M, Austin, Texas. The stop-motion commercial was directed by Cameron Gray of Vinton Studios, Portland, Ore.
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