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  • Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
Hybrid agency/production boutique Tack NYC launched
Tack NYC’s (l-r) exec post producer Nick Strange Thye, founding partner Ben Bettenhausen, Print to Print (P2P) president James Jorio, head of client strategy Carly Deiter, executive content producer Hugh Broder, and creative director Kristin Moore-Gantz.
NEW YORK -- 

Tack NYC, a hybrid agency/production boutique, has opened its doors. Billed as a new model enterprise--one conceived in the pre-pandemic era but unveiled during pandemic times--Tack NYC is founded by Ben Bettenhausen, a serial entrepreneur with a long history of working closely with agencies and brands in realizing their creative visions, 

Tack NYC opens with senior leaders possessing extensive experience in fashion, beauty, wellness and personal care brands, as well as automotive, retail and many other categories. Leading the Tack pack is creative director Kristin Moore-Gantz, who joins from a high-level freelance career, during which time she led creative teams handling big-budget, integrated projects for a range of brands, film studios and agencies. Prior to going out on her own she spent time at such agencies as McCann, atelier (Leo Burnett), Beauty @ Gotham, Grey and Publicis. Her portfolio includes work for brands including Sotheby’s, L’ More

  • Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
Scripted Shows Return to Network TV; Nielsen Week in Review
New England Patriots running back Damien Harris, center, runs past Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen, left, and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, right, in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in Foxborough, Mass. This NFL game topped the week's Nielsen ratings even though scripted TV series finally made their way back to primetime schedules (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

After the coronavirus pandemic sidelined creators and led to a delayed start of the traditional fall television season, scripted shows are beginning to return to network schedules.

Not all of them, not yet. But the return was most apparent the week after the election, and already there are winners and losers.

Dick Wolf's Chicago-based trilogy of dramas is back, and all three shows finished among the Nielsen company's 20 most-watched programs last week.

CBS' "Young Sheldon" led the path for comedies. ABC's "Station 19" and "Grey's Anatomy" were strong performers, along with CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles."

But there are signs that viewers aren't immediately returning to old habits. A CBS double-header of "S.W.A.T." episodes on Wednesday fell flat, with neither episode reaching 3 million viewers.

Similarly, NBC's long-playing "Law & Order: SVU" reached only 3 million people for its season debut.

Former President More

  • Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020
Twitter launches disappearing tweets that vanish in a day
This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. Twitter is launching tweets that disappear in 24 hours called “Fleets” globally, echoing social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram that already have disappearing posts. The company said Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, the ephemeral tweets, which it calls “fleets," are designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal tweets. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- 

Twitter is launching tweets that disappear in 24 hours called "Fleets" globally, echoing social media sites like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram that already have disappearing posts.

The company says the ephemeral tweets, which it calls "fleets" because of their fleeting nature, are designed to allay the concerns of new users who might be turned off by the public and permanent nature of normal tweets.

Fleets can't be retweeted and they won't have "likes." People can respond to them, but the replies show up as direct messages to the original tweeter, not as a public response, turning any back-and-forth into a private conversation instead of a public discussion.

Twitter tested the feature in Brazil, Italy, India, and South Korea, before rolling it out globally.

Fleets are a "lower pressure" way to communicate "fleeting thoughts" as opposed to permanent tweets, Twitter executives Joshua Harris, design director, and Sam Haveson More

  • Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020
Auteur turns author: Quentin Tarantino has 2-book deal with Harper
Quentin Tarantino arrives at the 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala on Jan. 2, 2020, in Palm Springs, Calif. The Oscar-winning director has a two-book deal with Harper, beginning with a novelization of "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" that is scheduled for next summer. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
By Hillel Italie, National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Quentin Tarantino's next work of imagination will be in book form. 

The Oscar-winning director has a two-book deal with Harper, beginning with a novelization of "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" that is scheduled for next summer. "Once Upon a Time" will be a true Tarantino production: The book will come out first as a mass market paperback, like the old pulp novels the filmmaker loves, and will offer "a fresh, playful and shocking departure from the film," according to Harper.

The film version of "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" was released in 2019 and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor and Brad Pitt as his stunt double. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winner of two, the movie is set in Los Angeles in 1969, around the time of the killings by Charles Manson's followers. 

"In the '70s movie novelizations were the first adult books I grew up reading," Tarantino said in a statement Tuesday. "And to this day I have a More

  • Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020
Uppercut expands with launch of Atlanta facility
Uppercut's Atlanta facility
NEW YORK -- 

Uppercut, which opened its flagship editorial, finishing and VFX studio in NY’s Flatiron District back in 2015, has now extended its reach to the South with the launch of a facility in Atlanta.

Situated in a historic industrial building in Atlanta’s Upper West Side--part of the new mixed-use development dubbed The Works spanning office spaces with retail, dining and entertainment--Uppercut’s new shop will be run by executive producer Jen Sienkwicz, a veteran with over two decades of experience in postproduction. From this Atlanta base, Uppercut will offer offline editing, VFX and finishing for short-form fare, commercials, music videos and branded content. With several offline edit suites and Flame bays for finishing, the office will provide ample space for Uppercut editors and clients. Additionally, the operation will provide postproduction suites for long or short term rentals, designed to fit the needs of the feature and episodic productions More

  • Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
Mexican border drama wins Greece's top film prize
In this Aug. 20, 2015 file photo, Mexican Director Fernanda Valadez speaks during an interview at the Mexico City Film School. Valadez’s film, a drama about a mother’s harrowing journey through Mexico to find her teenage son who went missing while trying to reach the United States has won the top prize at Greece’s Thessaloniki Film Festival on Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) -- 

"Identifying Features," a drama about a mother's harrowing journey through Mexico to find her teenage son who went missing while trying to reach the United States, won the top prize at Greece's Thessaloniki Film Festival on Monday.

Organizers said the feature film by Mexican debut director Fernanda Valadez had been awarded the Golden Alexander prize.

"In a cruel world of heartbreaks, tragedy, and survival, a story of an unexpected bond is born," the organizers said in a statement. "It starts slowly and classically to then develop into visual darkness, or hell, just as the story does."

Titled "Sin Senas Particulares" in Spanish, the movie also picked up a world cinema award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

The 61st Thessaloniki Film Festival was held as a digital event due to pandemic restrictions. 

  • Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
"Global Citizen's One World: Together At Home" to receive special HPA honor
Lee Rolontz
BURBANK, Calif. -- 

The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) will bestow its prestigious Judges Award for Creativity and Innovation upon One World: Together at Home, a globally televised and streamed special produced remotely last April by international advocacy organization Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, powered by the UN Foundation. The HPA honor recognizes creative storytelling and technical innovation. The recipient is selected by a distinguished jury of industry luminaries. The award will be accepted by Lee Rolontz, sr. VP of event and broadcast at Global Citizen, during the 15th annual HPA Awards gala, which will be held online on Thursday, November 19.

The Creativity & Innovation jury, led by co-chairs Carolyn Giardina and Joachim Zell, issued a statement in announcing the award: “The jury selected the One World: Together At Home special for its timely and More

  • Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
Arts & Sciences opens London office under aegis of James Bland
James Bland
LONDON -- 

Production company Arts & Sciences (A&S)--with bases of operation in West Hollywood, Calif., and Brooklyn, NY--has extended its reach by opening an office in London under the aegis of James Bland who had most recently served as EP and partner at Blink Productions in the U.K.

A&S London launches with a directorial roster consisting of Adam & Dave, Mike Warzin, Sean Meehan, Fiona McGee, Anthony Mandler, Shaniqwa & Raj, Alex Prager, Matt Lenski, and co-founder Matt Aselton. 

A&S was formed back in 2010 by partners Aselton, Marc Marrie and Mal Ward. The latter said, “We’ve had our eye on London for a while and we wanted to do this in a very specific and thoughtful way. Fortunately for us, James Bland was willing to partner with some ambitious and somewhat idealistic Americans. Being open ten years, it’s a benchmark moment and we couldn’t be more excited to mark it by establishing our brand and directors in what is More

  • Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
Academics, video game makers team up in rare collaboration
In this Thursday, Jan, 23, 2020 file photo, Nintendo Switch game consoles are on display at Nintendo's official store in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Time spent playing video games can be good for mental health, according to a new study by researchers at Oxford University. The finding comes as video game sales this year have boomed as more people are stuck at home because of the pandemic and many countries have once again imposed limits on public life. The paper released Monday, NOv. 16, 2020 is based on survey responses from people who played two games, Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
By Kelvin Chan, Business Writer
LONDON (AP) -- 

A study by Oxford University researchers on how playing video games affects mental health used data from video game makers, marking what the authors say is a rare collaboration between academics and the game industry. 

Lack of transparency from game makers has long been an issue for scientists hoping to better understand player behaviors. 

The paper released Monday by the Oxford Internet Institute comes as video game sales this year have boomed as more people are stuck at home because of the pandemic and many countries have once again imposed limits on public life.

The findings are based on survey responses from people over 18 who played two games, Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. 

The study used data provided by the game makers, Electronic Arts and Nintendo of America, on how much time the respondents spent playing, unlike previous research that relied on imprecise estimates from More

  • Monday, Nov. 16, 2020
Privacy activists in EU file complaints over iPhone tracking
In this Sept. 25, 2015 file photo people wait in front of the Apple store in Munich, Germany. IDFA (Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers) allows Apple and all apps on the phone to track a user and combine information about online and mobile behaviour. Just like for cookies, this would require the users’ consent under EU law. Apple places these tracking codes without the knowledge or agreement of the users. noyb therefore filed two complaints against the company. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
BERLIN (AP) -- 

European privacy activists have filed complaints against Apple over its use of software to track the behavior of iPhone users.

The Vienna-based group NOYB - short for "none of your business" - said Monday that it has asked data protection authorities in Germany and Spain to examine the legality of Apple's tracking codes.

The codes, known as IDFA or Identifier for Advertisers, are similar to the cookies that websites use to store information on user behavior. 

NOYB says the iOS operating system creates unique codes for each iPhone that allow Apple and other third parties to "identify users across applications and even connect online and mobile behaviour."

The group argues that this amounts to tracking without users' knowledge or consent, a practice that is banned under the European Union's electronic privacy rules.

"Tracking is only allowed if users explicitly consent to it," said Stefano Rossetti, a lawyer for NOYB. More

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