Former Protein editorial executive producer/partner Tim Jacobs has joined production and post house Optimus in a new position as director of sales. In this role, Jacobs will be dedicated to all of Optimus in Chicago and Santa Monica, including production arm One at Optimus, as well as editorial, design, graphics, audio, color and finish. Optimus sales reps Sean Sullivan and Doug Sherin will work with Jacobs on sales efforts across the country. Prior to his Protein tenure, Jacobs was a producer at Whitehouse Post in Chicago. Before then, he was a producer at Filmcore in Los Angeles, where he worked with Therese Hunsberger, Optimus LA’s executive producer/managing director. He started his career on the advertising agency side of the business, working with clients such as Gatorade, Coors Light, Visa, Pioneer, Mattel and Motorola at Draftfcb, BBDO and Ogilvy…Los Angeles-based The Cavalry Productions has signed independent firm Saxon + Partners to handle representation on the West Coast. Headed by executive producers Ross Grogan and Chris Wedding, The Cavalry Productions is active in both the commercial and digital realms, and maintains a directorial roster that includes Gil Green, Bryce Gubler and the recently signed Woodhead, a directing team which consists of director/writer Tony Yacenda, writer/comedian/actor Dan Perrault and comedian/actor/producer Sean Carrigan…..Cinematographer Peter Eastgate has joined The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation for commercials, television and feature films. Production designer Kevin Kavanaugh has recently completed work on the pilot Ballers starring Dwayne Johnson and Omar Miller, written by Stephen Levinson and directed by Peter Berg. Kavanaugh is available for commercials, TV and features through The Skouras Agency…..
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