Director Joe Murray has come aboard the roster of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios. He was most recently handled by Boxer Films for commercials.
In that he is adept at live action and effects–and in meshing the two disciplines without losing the human element in his storytelling–Murray dovetails nicely with R+H, a digital studio encompassing live-action and animation directors, visual effects, design and postproduction services.
On the ad front, Murray has directed beauty, sports, and music talent including Jane Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Greg Norman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Petty, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, and Randy Travis, while his client list spans Acura, Budweiser, Calloway Golf, Ford, Gatorade, General Motors, General Mills, MacGregor Sports, Lexus, Polaris, and Procter & Gamble. He has also diversified into long-form with projects for Warner Bros., Lucasfilm and HBO over the years.
Murray said he was attracted to R+H’s creative talent, technical resources and expertise, and track record for problem solving and collaboration. But he cited as a prime draw R+H’s penchant for human-based storytelling.
“My point of view, no matter the project, has always been to emphasize the humanity and emotion and story elements in front of the lens,” related Murray. “In the past few years, we’ve experienced a highly accelerated evolvement in all of the technology we utilize to tell our stories from the point where the back of that lens ends; from the camera body all the way through the postproduction and delivery process. When Paul [Babb, R+H’s exec producer] called and offered me the opportunity to work with him and the many talented people at Rhythm and Hues I couldn’t resist as they have been at the forefront of this revolution without losing sight of the human story and the emotions and responsive chord we speak to in creating our images.”
Recent commercial projects at R+H include Activision, Budweiser, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Crayola, Electronic Arts, Hartford, Kellogg’s, Mattel, Microsoft X-Box, Miller Beer, Nasonex, Quaker State, Tide, and Ubisoft. Film Division credits include an Oscar® for Achievement in Visual Effects for Golden Compass in 2008. Recently produced theatrical movie projects include Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and The Wolfman. Films currently in production include The A Team, The Cabin In The Woods, Little Fockers, Marmaduke, and Yogi Bear.
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