Radar Studios, a Chicago-headquartered production house, has grown its West Coast presence by adding Danny J. Boyle, its second Los Angeles-based director–the other on the roster being the Walter Robot duo. Boyle has already wrapped his first job under the Radar banner, a Playskool campaign out of New York agency Uproar.
Boyle’s most recent company affiliation prior to Radar was Santa Monica-based Socket Films. Best known for his live-action and kids’ commercial fare, Boyle has directed over the years for such clients as McDonald’s, IHOP, Nesquik, Hertz, Hasbro, Mountain Dew, and Budweiser. For the latter, he directed the notable early 1990s spot “Pool Hall,” part of Bud’s “Ladies Night” campaign for DDB Chicago. “Pool Hall” represented Boyle’s first major splash in ad comedy, featuring not only the infamous guys in drag looking to get free beer on ladies’ night, but also the “Yes I Am” spokesman. The spot was produced by HKM Productions, the house through which Boyle broke into the directorial ranks after a career as a staff executive producer and freelance producer.
Following HKM, Boyle directed via such roosts as Atlas Pictures and Cognito Films. While remaining active in commercials, he has branched out into other disciplines, directing a 15-webisode Disney series, Zeke and Luther: Summer Dash For Cash, which combines the director’s expertise in kids and comedy. Boyle also has been busy in comedy sketch show episodes, the latest being SPOOF with Dana Carvey for FOX TV and guest starring Ken Jeong from The Hangover and Joel McHale from Community. Boyle additionally helmed the FOX pilot Man Stroke Woman.
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