Aardman Animations, Bristol, U.K., has parted ways with independent rep Nancy Jacobs, ending a 15-year relationship. Jacobs handled East Coast representation for the animation studio, which is slated to soon announce its new arrangement on the East Coast. During the interim, Aardman’s Bristol-based head of commercials/executive producer Heather Wright will be fielding inquiries from the East Coast…..Nikki Weiss & Co., Chicago, has signed director/DP Ken Arlidge of Aero Films, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation in the Midwest (excluding Detroit)…Red Truck Films, Raleigh, N.C., has signed independent rep Michael Eha to handle the company for commercial production….Sabrina Mehar has joined New York-based digital production studio Click 3x as in-house sales and marketing associate. She joins Click 3x from repping agency Miller Arnold, which represents Click on the East Coast….Global Production Network (GPN), Los Angeles, has added to its roster of production services companies, signing a deal to handle North American representation for Iceland-based Truenorth, which is headed by exec producer Leifur Dagfinnsson…..
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More