Traveling Picture Show Company, the L.A.-headquartered spot production house led by exec producer/partner John Noble, has secured independent firm MoButler Reps, headed by Maureen Butler, to handle the Midwest. MoButler Reps joins a Traveling Picture Show sales force consisting of Blush LA on the West Coast, Asprodites Reps in the Southwest, and Matchmaker Media on the East Coast, The Traveling Picture Show directorial roster includes Andrews Jenkins, Chris Woods, Jonathan Parkinson, Kevin Goetz, Enda McCallion, Jeremy Warshaw, Gus Black, David Fishel, Jay Buim, Ryan Bosworth, Barry Kimm, and Jim Matlosz….Chloe Sedelmaier has joined Bang Music in NY as director of business development. Most recently she was part of the sales team at Launch, the test commercial division of Charlex in NY. Sedelmaier will work directly with Bang’s Sara Iversen and founder Lyle Greenfield in developing strategic initiatives for the company not only in the area of commercial work but also in Bang’s audio post and music supervision for TV and film. This will include building a U.S. network for Bang’s new European division, which opens in October in Prague….Creative studio Leviathan is now repped on the East Coast by Rich Durkin and Ice Tea Productions, and on the West Coast by Claire & Company, which is headed by Claire Worch. Leviathan continues to be handled in the Midwest by Tracy Bernard….Production designer Carl Swanberg has joined colleen, the management company founded by Colleen Dolan Vinetz. Swanberg has worked for such brands as Jaguar, Levi’s, Land Rover, Sony PlayStation and Sprint…..Production designer Keith Cunningham has wrapped principal photography on River Road Entertainment’s Love & Mercy starring John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti. Cunningham is now available for spots and features via The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica….
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