By MILLIE TAKAKI
Rhythm & Hues Studios has signed a letter of intent to acquire visual effects shop VIFX from 20th Century Fox. The purchase price was not disclosed.
If the deal is finalized as expected, plans call for VIFX to move from its Los Angeles quarters into the nearby L.A. complex of computer animation/multimedia house Rhythm & Hues. An informed source within Rhythm & Hues said that the company has agreed to keep 70 to 75 of VIFXs 108 employees; the remaining workers will reportedly be offered jobs at other Fox-owned companies.
The sale of VIFX raises questions regarding Foxs plans for its majority ownership stake in Harrison, New York-based Blue Sky Studios. Fox acquired its interest in Blue Sky a year and a half ago (SHOOT, 9/5/97, p. 1) and paired the Harrison firm with VIFX to create the bicoastal Blue Sky|VIFX.
Best known for its computer character animation and visual effects for spots, Blue Sky continues to be headed by CEO David Brown. He said he anticipates no material effect from the sale of VIFX to Rhythm & Hues, adding that Blue Skys staff and structure would remain intact within the Harrison facility. Blue Skys reputation has grown in recent weeks with the garnering of an Academy Award nomination in the short film category for the CGI piece Bunny directed and written by Chris Wedge.
Brown noted that Blue Sky is maintaining its focus on commercial work, adding that the studio is also developing full-length feature projects with Fox. He declined comment on the rumor that Fox is trying to sell off its effects holdings and that Blue Sky would be part of that divestiture.
Getting In Rhythm
Meanwhile the VIFX moniker will be phased out as that operation meshes into Rhythm & Hues. Several key VIFX execs. will figure prominently in the expanded Rhythm & Hues. VIFX president Richard Hollander will become president of Rhythm & Hues feature division. He will be joined by other former VIFX staffers, including VP, production/exec. producer Lee Berger; VP, technology Mark A. Brown; and VP, filmed entertainment Deborah Giarrantana. They will team with Rhythm & Hues exec. producer Peter Takeuchi and production execs Billy Koch and Randy Starr in running the filmed entertainment division.
Though primarily known for its effects and digital animation prowess in theatrical features (i.e.-Star Trek: Insurrection, Armageddon, Blade and the upcoming Fantasia 2000, Pushing Tin and Never Been Kissed), VIFX has accumulated some spot effects credentials over the years, including work on such accounts as Chrysler, Coca-Cola and Lotromin.
Rhythm & Hues commercial production infrastructure-encompassing live action, computer animation and visual effects-remains intact under the aegis of exec. producer Michael Crapser. In fact at press time, the studio was in the process of adding another spot director to its roster, which is currently comprised of Clark Anderson, Kerry Colonna, Michael Patterson, Randy Roberts, Richard Taylor, Paul Vester and Charlie Watson. Rhythm & Hues, also continues to offer CGI and effects services to outside live-action spot production companies.
John Hughes, president and CEO of Rhythm & Hues, said that the company plans continued growth in all of its core markets, including feature films, theme park/special venue projects and TV commercials. Our strength has always been in the creativity and innovation of our people, related Hughes, who added that VIFX brings many more talented people to Rhythm & Hues.
The VIFX acquisition is also rumored to enhance prospects for a Rhythm & Hues-produced computer animation feature. Speculation in some circles is that Fox might offer to back such a movie in exchange for a stake in the project; however, that could not be confirmed at press time.
Rhythm & Hues continues to turn out CGI and effects for theatrical motion pictures, the latest being for Babe: Pig in the City, Soldiers, The Parent Trap, Stepmom and the upcoming Out of Towners. Rhythm & Hues is also currently in the midst of Mystery Men, the feature film directing debut of Kinka Usher who earlier this month won the DGA Award for Best Commercial Director of 98. Usher directs spots via House of Usher Films, Santa Monica.
With the infusion of talent and resources from VIFX, Rhythm & Hues claims that it will become the largest privately owned visual effects and animation studio in Los Angeles. Hollander noted that the new, stronger combined infrastructure will allow us to better focus on the services we provide to filmmakers. The visual effects industry is in a period of transition and this new entity will be better adapted to meet the challenges and opportunities of these times.
-Additional reporting by Carolyn Giardina.
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