Digital studio Reel FX, with studios in Dallas and Santa Monica, has signed VFX veteran Keith McCabe as general manager of its commercial division. In this role, McCabe’s primary focus will be to oversee all aspects of commercial production from motion design to CG and VFX work.
McCabe comes to Reel FX from Charlex where he supervised CG work on campaigns for top brands including Verizon Wireless, Cover Girl, Clairol, AIG and Hershey’s. In his 16 years of experience in the advertising and feature film industries, he has garnered numerous accolades for his work including a 2006 AICP Award for Excellence in Animation for his contributions on M&M’s “Kaleidoscope.”
McCabe said drawing him to his new roost were its deep talent pool and reputation spanning jobs ranging from stereoscopic 3D, to CG animation, to turn-key live-action/visual effects and cutting edge design.
New York native McCabe graduated valedictorian with a degree in Digital Media from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. He immediately dove into the industry working as a technical director at VIFX in Los Angeles, crafting particle-based dynamics and visual effects animation for films including Titanic, Blade and Volcano. He continued to work as a technical director for top companies including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues Studios and Industrial Light +Magic.
In 2004, McCabe returned to New York as a technical director at Blue Sky Studios (a division of 20th Century Fox) on its animated feature Robots. He moved on to Charlex when offered a position as head of computer graphics. While there, he managed up to 40 CG artists, editors, programmers and designers. Additionally, he served as the primary creative contact collaborating with such agencies as BBDO, McCann Erickson, Grey, Y&R and Mullen.
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