Formerly director of integrated production at twofifteenmccann
Tom Wright has come aboard visual studio Ntropic as managing director, North America, teaming with founder Nate Robinson to guide the company across its L.A., New York and San Francisco offices. Formerly sr. VP/director of integrated production at twofifteenmccann, Wright while there worked on the 2011 Silver Cyber Lion-winning Help Remedies campaign as well as the Halo4 launch and the TED-honored Xbox Kinect Effect work. His experience also includes executive roles working with brands such as Jeep, Ray-Ban, Sprint, Hewlett-Packard, Ford and Coca-Cola.
Wright will guide the strategic direction, growth and development of Ntropic’s creative production offerings. His management acumen will also allow Robinson to focus solely on creative projects. Robinson cited Wright’s agency perspective, intellect and his understanding of creative cultures as attributes making him the right person to further “elevate Ntropic as a company and a brand, and to open us up to the opportunities of an evolving industry.”
Wright said that among the elements attracting him to Ntropic were its ensemble of established and emerging artists, three North American offices that share a creative culture and focus, and the ability “to create engaging content for any platform.”
Ntropic’s recent projects include working with artist Marco Brambilla on his latest 3D video installation “Creation [Megaplex],” which opened as a solo exhibit in New York. The studio also recently partnered with Team Detroit on a web campaign for the new Lincoln MKZ luxury sedan. The campaign was shot on location in Spain’s City of Arts and Sciences, and included the creation of three CG heavy films for the Lincoln MKZ site, along with other cross-platform uses. Other Ntropic projects include CG automotive work for Buick Lucerne and LaCrosse, and a new live action and visual effects campaign for Franklin Templeton.
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