Director/creative director Jake Banks, executive producer Matthew Marquis and head of VFX Guillaume Marien have teamed to form Golden, a production and post company based in Venice, Calif. Launching in response to the ever-changing industry model, Golden is a multi-disciplinary studio focused on the fusion of high-end live action production, design, animation and visual effects. Banks and Marquis earlier founded Stardust, a commercial production company where Banks served as owner and director. After nearly a decade at the helm of that company, Banks had a stint on the directorial roster of Prettybird. Marquis most recently prior to Golden worked at Logan where he helped launch the live action division Logan and Sons. Guillaume is the creator of Mathematic, a motion design studio devoted to creating cutting edge visuals with an innovative approach to postproduction…. Director and VFX artist Anders Rostad has joined the roster of DNA. Anders previously served as creative director and head of video production for RAM Magazine, and has been a freelance director and VFX artist since 2010. Rostad joins DNA after a string of successful projects including directing “Last Chance” for Grammy-nominated electronic artist Kaskade and an innovative series of network IDs for Hub for the 2012 and 2013 summer campaigns. He also designed a series of video billboards featured in Times Square for Aeropostale and JVC’s New Year’s campaigns….James Cunningham has joined Stink, serving as EP out of the company’s London office. He was most recently head of content at Academy Films. Cunningham began his career as an account man at TBWA, London and Mustoe Merriman Levy. He then moved to Cape Town, working at Suburban Films, where he was instrumental in setting up Film South Africa, a body designed to unify the country’s production industry under one global marketing strategy. After three years in South Africa, Cunningham returned to London and joined Academy Films as its head of content in 2008….NY-based Northern Lights has promoted Jon Simpson to editor. While working as an assistant editor since joining the company in 2010, he has contributed to a wide variety of campaigns for such top clients as USA Network, TruTV and Al Jazeera America. In 2013, he took home the top prize at the AICE Camp Kuleshov trailer editing contest for “Screwloose,” his horror take on a trailer for the 1980s dance musical Footloose….
Apple To Pay $95 million To Settle Lawsuit Accusing Siri of Snooping, Sharing Some Info With Advertisers
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.
The proposed settlement filed Tuesday in an Oakland, California, federal court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn't seek to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words, "Hey, Siri." Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit asserted.
The allegations about a snoopy Siri contradicted Apple's long-running commitment to protect the privacy of its customers — a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has often framed as a fight to preserve "a fundamental human right."
Apple isn't acknowledging any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. Lawyers in the case have proposed scheduling a Feb. 14 court hearing in Oakland to review the terms.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from Sept. 17, 2014, through the end of last year could file claims. Each consumer could receive up to $20 per Siri-equipped device covered by the settlement, although the payment could be reduced or increased, depending on the volume of claims. Only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers are expected to file claims, according to estimates in court documents.
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