New York-headquartered CatatoniaGiraldi–a multinational production house formed in 2006 by director Bob Giraldi and Catatonia Films, Mexico City, for Hispanic and mainstream English-language spots–has brought directors Josh Marston and Sebastian Alfie on board. Marston's credits include Maria Full of Grace, a feature which won the Audience Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and episodes of primetime TV series Six Feet Under for HBO and the upcoming Swingtown, which is slated to debut on CBS. Alfie is a spotmaking veteran whose credits include campaigns for Mercedes-Benz, Movistar and PlayStation in Spain, shoots for Coca-Cola and Sprite in Argentina and recent stateside assignments for Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami and Boulder, Colo., and Grupo Gallegos in Long Beach, Calif….The directorial duo Peter Martin–Peter Livolsi and Martin Dix–has joined bicoastal Sleeper USA for U.S. representation. Livolsi is a graduate of the American Film Institute's directing program and Dix is a writer/creative director who has worked at agencies in the U.S. as well as in his native Australia. The Peter Martin directing team, formerly repped by harvest, Santa Monica, was among the helmers selected for SHOOT's 2006 New Directors Showcase….Meanwhile, another alumnus from that same year's SHOOT New Directors Showcase, Scott Corbett, has joined the roster of Identity, the New York shop headed by owner/exec producer Joe Masi. Corbett's past affiliations include Boy Genius and the now defunct commercial division of A Band Apart. He first established himself in the industry as an ad agency copywriter working on both coasts and then made a successful transition to the director's chair….
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