HOLLYWOOD-Joshua Touber has been appointed managing director of Encore Hollywood. This marks his second tour of duty with the company, having served as its general manager from ’92 to ’95, after which he left to become a principal in facility software provider Xymox Systems (now Xytech), Los Angeles. From Xytech, Touber went on to found Southern California-based communication services group Virtuosity, which introducted Wildfire, an automated, voice activated telecommunications system used throughout the industry.
Touber’s return is a key move for Encore since being acquired by the Four Media Company (4MC), Burbank, in September. (That acquisition also included post/effects house Encore Santa Monica, and spot editorial shop FilmCore, Santa Monica and San Francisco.) Touber succeeds Bruce K. Long, former president of Encore Hollywood(the position now known as managing director). Long is now executive VP of the 4MC Television Group.
And as earlier reported, Larry Chernoff, Encore’s founding father, was named president of 4MC Television Group. He described Touber’s hiring as significant. Chernoff said of Touber, "He brings with him a fundamental understanding of the needs of the commercial and short-form markets, which also need additional facility support as the industry moves towards high definition TV and new technologies. I look forward to working with him again."
Touber said his focus "will be to streamline existing efficiencies in the process and to raise the bar in the postproduction community, continuing to make Encore even more a cutting edge boutique for both the episodic television and commercial communities. Integrating new technologies into existing post models, leading the talent of Encore Hollywood into the next millennium, and working with the strength and resources of Four Media are exciting tasks."
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