Content production company Recommended has signed Jen Giles to handle Midwest representation. Recommended’s directorial roster includes Cynthia Wade, Woods, Scott Zabielski, Phil Abraham and Snorri Sturluson….kaboom productions, headed by exec producer Lauren Schwartz, has signed with B/Lush Creative, under the aegis of Deirdre Rymer, for exclusive West Coast representation….Commercial production veteran and former Superfad managing director Kevin Batten has launched Pop-Arts Management, a management and production-consulting firm which represents design, animation, production and VFX companies for commercials and content. Batten’s deep production experience at studios such as Digital Kitchen and Brand New School, and agencies including Deutsch and Wieden+Kennedy, enables Pop-Arts to package multi-disciplinary projects under one roof for clients. Pop-Arts currently reps Logan, Logan & Sons, Gentlemen Scholar and Great Guns….Curious Film, Australia/New Zealand, is diving into the North American market with the appointment of Chicago-based Chris Breneman as head of sales USA. Breneman is now the local US link to Curious’ directors and a team of Australasian producers with experience spanning 12 years in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Curious’ directors–Darryl Ward, Ash Bolland, Miki Magasiva. Regan Hall, Robin Walters, Sally Shapcott, Sam Kristofski, Stephen Kang, Summer Agnew, Tammy Davis and Zia Mandviwalla–are already well known in the US for campaigns like Old Navy and Air NZ….DP Phedon Papamichael, ASC (a Best Cinematography Oscar nominee for Nebraska), is now repped for commercials at UTA….
Court Orders Meta To Pay $567M To Address Kids’ Mental Health Online
A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.
The new penalty is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that jurors ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In the second phase, prosecutors asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.
The total amount Meta is responsible for — $942 million — is a small fraction of of its annual profit, which was about $60 billion in 2025. Investors seemed to shrug off the New Mexico ruling in after-hours trading Thursday, sending Meta's stock down less than half a percent to $589.44.
Still, the ruling is another setback for Meta, which faces an avalanche of lawsuits from thousands of families of children harmed by social media.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said it sends an unmistakable message that companies will be held accountable when their product designs knowingly put children at risk.
"Today's decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online," he... Read More