Red Car New York has named Scott Spanjich to the post of managing director. An experienced production and post executive with a diverse background in music videos, commercials and branded content, Spanjich most recently was working with Deluxe in a permalance role where he served in a variety of interim positions at its Beast Editorial division and consulted on motion graphics and VFX business.
Spanjich’s career has been marked by close collaborations with directors, production companies, agencies, music labels and clients. Prior to founding his own consultancy, Scott Spanjich, Inc., he was executive producer of Radical Music, the music-related production arm of @radical.media, a position he held for four years. He came to Radical from Sony Music Entertainment, where he was VP, creative marketing/video production for its Epic label.
Spanjich has worked with an array of artists and brands, ranging from will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas to Jay Z, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Pink, the Dave Matthews Band and many more. Among the advertisers he’s worked with on traditional commercial campaigns, branded content initiatives, broadcast promos and music-related programming are WalMart, MTV, “Saturday Night Live,” Victoria’s Secret, Comcast, and the Obama presidential campaign.
As someone not coming out of an ad agency or post house, Spanjich emerged as unconventional candidate, noted Red Car founder and editor Larry Bridges who explained, “We were attracted to the fact that he brings a fresh and original perspective to the position. We think Scott’s going to change the perception of what a modern postproduction company managing director is going to be.”
Spanjich said about his new role, “Larry is giving me the chance to help shape the future of what Red Car New York is all about. I think as we move forward we’re going to be looking to redefine what a creative editorial and post production company can be in this market, both in terms of the work we do and the relationships we establish.”
At Red Car New York Spanjich will be working with an editorial roster that includes Deidre Bell, Charlie Cusumano, Greg Letson and Keith Olwell, in addition to creative director Chris Bialkowski, who heads up animation, visual effects and design. All Red Car editors are available nationally through the Red Car offices in Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Recent Red Car New York projects includes work for such brands as Olive Garden, Google, Audi and Orbitz, and collaborations with agencies that include Grey Worldwide, Barton F. Graf 9000, Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon.
Spanjich’s hiring comes on the heels of Red Car Chicago’s recent signing of two new editorial talents, Keith Kristinat and David Rosenblatt. As part of the company’s management team, Spanjich will work with Red Car Chicago managing director Carrie Holecek and executive producer Jon Desir, and Red Car Dallas managing director Carrie Callaway.
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