Sony Pictures Television Studios will receive the Visionary Award at the 2nd Annual AutFest International Film Festival presented by The Autism Society at a VIP Reception on Sunday, April 29 at 7:30pm at the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. Honorees include Jeff Frost, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios (SPT), and co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television Chris Parnell and Jason Clodfelter. The announcement was made by Matthew Asner, VP of Development for The Autism Society. AutFest is sponsored by Hyundai Motor America and SAG-AFTRA.
Said Scott Badesch, president of Autism Society of America: “To think that one studio can represent almost one full day of programming (Atypical, The Good Doctor and Roman J. Israel ESQ) at AutFest Film Festival is almost unthinkable. Obviously, Sony Pictures understands that autism is a part of all of our lives and we are very proud to honor them with our Visionary Award at this year’s AutFest. Each of these Sony Pictures programs and features are bold statements that tell stories of many special lives on the autism spectrum.”
“We are incredibly honored to be represented in the festival and to receive the Visionary Award on behalf of Sony.” said Frost.
Elevated to lead the studio this year, Frost, Parnell and Clodfelter oversee all U.S. production and programming, including the current shows The Good Doctor, Atypical, SWAT, One Day at a Time, The Blacklist, The Goldbergs, Outlander and Sneaky Pete. Frost was formerly EVP, U.S. business affairs for SPT and joined the company in 2008, coming from ABC Studios, where he was SVP business affairs. Both Parnell and Clodfelter were formerly EVPs of drama development and programming at SPT. They guided the development of scripted programming for drama series, working with writers and producers on projects for broadcast, cable and streaming outlets.
Past AutFest honorees include Ben Affleck (The Accountant) and Pixar’s Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera (Inside Out). Celebrating autism awareness “from spectrum to screen,” AutFest Film Festival is now in its second year. Its mission is to further advance the well-being of all with an autism diagnosis, as well as to educate the nation about autism and the important need to fully respect and value each person with autism. AutFest celebrates films and television programs that promote autism awareness and support autistic filmmakers and artists that have chosen film as their profession.
A number of additional special awards will be handed out at a special ceremony at the conclusion of AutFest on Sunday, April 29, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress as well as an Audience Award.
AutFest Honorary Committee Members include seven-time Emmy® winner and autism advocate Ed Asner, actress Kristen Bell (House of Lies), actor Dax Shepard (CHIPS), Emmy-winning actress comedian Sarah Silverman, Golden Globe®-nominated actor Matthew Modine (Stranger Things), Emmy-nominated actor Gary Cole (Veep), Autism Speaks co-founder Bob Wright, The Suzanne Wright Foundation president Liz Feld, Warner Bros. president and CCO Peter Roth and Autism Society’s VP of development Matthew Asner.
Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over phone settings, accusing them of violating antitrust laws
Video game maker Epic Games sued Google and Samsung on Monday, accusing the tech companies of coordinating to block third-party competition in application distribution on Samsung devices.
At issue is Samsung's "Auto Blocker" feature, which only allows for apps from authorized sources, such as the Samsung Galaxy Store or Google Play Store, to be installed. The feature is turned on by default but can be changed in a phone's settings. The tool prevents the installation of applications from unauthorized sources and blocks "malicious activity," according to Samsung.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court — Epic's second against Google — the company said Auto Blocker "is virtually guaranteed to entrench Google's dominance over Android app distribution." Epic, developer of the popular game "Fortnite," filed the suit to prevent Google from "negating the long overdue promise of competition in the Android App Distribution Market," according to the complaint.
"Allowing this coordinated illegal anti-competitive dealing to proceed hurts developers and consumers and undermines both the jury's verdict and regulatory and legislative progress around the world," Epic Games said in a post on its website.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Samsung said it "actively fosters market competition, enhances consumer choice, and conducts its operations fairly."
"The features integrated into our devices are designed in accordance with Samsung's core principles of security, privacy, and user control, and we remain fully committed to safeguarding users' personal data. Users have the choice to disable Auto Blocker at any time," Samsung said, adding that it plans to "vigorously contest Epic Game's baseless... Read More