News Briefs

Children's and public health advocacy groups say Facebook's kid-centric messaging app violates federal law by collecting kids' personal information without getting verifiable consent from their parents.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and other groups asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to investigate Facebook's Messenger Kids for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.

The complaint says the app does not meet COPPA requirements because it doesn't try to ensure that the person who sets up the kids' account and gives consent to have their data collected is the actual parent. In fact, the groups say, someone could set up a brand new, fictional account and immediately approve a kid's account without proving their age or identity.

Facebook said Wednesday it hasn't yet reviewed the complaint letter. The company has said it doesn't show ads on Messenger Kids or collect data for marketing purposes, though it does collect some data it says is necessary to run the service.

But the advocacy groups say the privacy policy of Messenger Kids is "incomplete and vague" and allows Facebook to disclose data to third parties and other Facebook services "for broad, undefined business purposes."

Facebook launched Messenger Kids last December on iOS and has since expanded to Android and Amazon devices and beyond the U.S. to Mexico, Canada and elsewhere. It is aimed at children under 13 who technically cannot have Facebook accounts (although plenty of them do).

Though the company says it has received a lot of input from parents and children's development experts in creating the app, groups such as the CCFC have been trying to get Messenger Kids shut down since it launched.

The Publicis Groupe UK leadership team has been set, with COO Jo Coombs, chief growth officer Anna Campbell and head of talent Paula Cunnington coming on board. They join chief financial officer James Barnes-Austin who started in June this year. All will report directly to CEO of Publicis Groupe UK, Annette King.
 
Coombs joins from Ogilvy where she was the UK CEO of OgilvyOne. Coombs has worked with brands including British Airways, American Express, Unilever, Boots, BT, British Gas and the UK Government to establish long-lasting consumer and business-to-business relationships, drive business results and build strong brands. In her new role as COO, Coombs will help drive the country model, working closely with the solution hub and agency leads, fostering even greater collaboration across all talent at Publicis Groupe UK to optimize, and where relevant, reinvent the client offering. She will also be exec sponsor on key pitches for Groupe UK and help integrate specialist offerings with a focus on data, content and dynamic creativity.
 
Campbell will join from OMD Worldwide, where she led marketing and business development, overseeing 65 markets across the EMEA region. There, she re-engineered the function and running of pitches, resulting in successes including the global wins of Disney and Liberty accounts, plus Tourism Ireland and Trip Advisor. In her new remit as chief growth officer, Campbell will work closely with the solution hub and agency leads in the UK on prospecting and business development opportunities, identifying existing client need for additional expertise within the business and leveraging Publicis Groupe’s creative, tech and data capabilities. Campbell will also be focused on further bringing to life the Power of One in the UK to help deliver its unique integrated offer to clients.
 
Cunnington joins from Dentsu Aegis Network where she was UK&I chief people officer. Cunnington brings a range of experience from media, consultancy and financial services having also held roles at Barclays Group, Santander and Accenture. As head of talent for Publicis Groupe UK, she will be responsible for leading a strategic talent plan across Groupe UK, working closely with the solution hub CTOs, and focusing on fostering culture to further build a collaborative, progressive and inclusive environment across Publicis Groupe UK building on work to date to make it a best-in-class example of how to put talent at the heart of an organization to succeed.

The Publicis Groupe UK leadership team appointment aligns with Publicis Groupe’s country model rollout in eight key markets: North America, the United Kingdom, France, DACH (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Northern and Central Europe, Southern Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East/Africa, and Latin America.
 
Publicis Groupe UK is made up of over 5,500 employees and 32 agency brands that sit within the solutions hubs: Publicis Communications, Publicis Media, Publicis.Sapient and Publicis Health.

The first Kenyan feature film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival has received overwhelming audience support since a court temporarily lifted a ban imposed by censors over the film's gay content, a lawyer said Friday.

"Rafiki" went from being screened once a day in one theater in Nairobi on Sept. 22 to three daily screenings at theaters in three of Kenya's largest cities as of Friday, said Sofia Leteipan, who represents director Wanuri Kahiu.

The court ruled that the film, a love story featuring two women, could be viewed locally for one week to make it eligible for Oscar contention. The ban will resume after Sunday showings.

Ezekiel Mutua, the head of the Kenya Film Classification Board, has said that only "a small portion" of the country's population has seen it.

"There is no market for homosexual movies in Kenya. Is there value for money in making a homosexual movie that will be watched by 300 out of 44 million people?" Mutua said in an interview on Citizen Television earlier in the week.

It is illegal to have same-gender sex in Kenya. Gays and lesbians in many parts of Africa face severe harassment, physical threats and judicial punishment.

Kenya's National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is currently in court arguing that sections of the penal code violate the constitution and deny basic rights by criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adults.

Leteipan said that although "Rafiki" in the end wasn't nominated for an Oscar, its screening across Kenya is a "huge win for the articulation of freedom of expression."

She said that after the ban resumes, "we'll still be in court pursuing the original petition to have the ban permanently lifted and strike out provisions of Films and Stage Plays Act which restrict freedom of expression and constrain creativity."

After watching the film, gay activist Immah Reid called it a "well-structured conversation starter for sexuality in Kenya ... how gender appears and the violence people who don't conform to gender rules end up going through."

Maureen Nyambura, a university student, said it is progress that "Rafiki" is being seen in a society that often doesn't tolerate different sexualities.

"You don't have to be a woman to fall in love with a man and vice versa. It's time Kenya embraces sexual diversity," she said.

Rob Marshall, Oscar nominee, DGA and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, producer, theater director and choreographer whose films have consistently reflected the highest quality of production design, will receive the prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE, Local 800) at its 23rd Annual Art Directors Guild’s Excellence in Production Design Awards. The 2019 Awards, themed “Production Design: Landscape of the Imagination,” will be held Saturday, February 2, 2019 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown and will honor the prestigious spectrum of Marshall’s extraordinary award-winning work. The announcement was made today by ADG Council Chairman Mark Worthington ADG and Awards Producers Scott Moses ADG  and Marco Miehe ADG.

Marshall’s films have been honored with a total of 23 Academy Award nominations--winning nine, including Best Picture.  His most recent film Mary Poppins Returns, which he directed and produced, stars Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Said ADG president Nelson Coates, “We are excited to recognize the amazing talents and creative contributions Rob Marshall has made to narrative design and imaginative storytelling, while so beautifully creating an incredible cinematic legacy as which includes some of the most successful movies of our time.  The breadth of his impact on the visual lexicon spans the worlds of film, television, theater and dance.”

Marshall’s directorial efforts include the Oscar -winning films Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha. For his work on Chicago, winner of six Oscars including Best Picture, Marshall received the Directors Guild Award, Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations, the National Board of Review Award and the New York Film Critics Online Award, both for best directorial debut, as well as the American Choreography Award.  His epic film Memoirs of a Geisha was the winner of three Oscars, three BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe.  Marshall’s film version of the musical Nine was nominated for four Oscars, five Golden Globes, 10 Critics Choice awards, and a SAG award for best cast.  His film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, went on to gross over one billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Marshall’s screen adaption of the Sondheim musical Into the Woods, starring Meryl Streep, was nominated for three Oscars, three Golden Globes (including Best Picture), and was chosen as one of AFI’s best films of the year. 

Marshall executive produced, directed and choreographed the NBC television event Tony Bennett: An American Classic, winning his second Directors Guild Award as well as three Emmy Awards for Direction, Choreography and Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.  He directed and choreographed Disney/ABC’s movie musical Annie, which received 12 Emmy nominations and won the prestigious Peabody Award. For his work he received an Emmy and an American Choreography Award.  He is the recipient of the Cinema Audio Society Filmmaker Award, as well as the Distinguished Collaborator Award for the Costume Designers Guild and the Hamilton Award.

In addition to his film and television achievements, Marshall is a six-time Tony Award nominee and George Abbott Award winner. His stage work includes Broadway productions of Cabaret, Little Me, Victor/Victoria, Damn Yankees, She Loves Me, Company, and Kiss of the Spiderwoman.

The ADG’s Cinematic Imagery Award is given to those whose body of work in the film industry has richly enhanced the visual aspects of the movie-going experience. Previous recipients have been Kathleen Kennedy, Brad Bird, David O. Russell, Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, John Lasseter, George Lucas, Frank Oz, the team behind the James Bond franchise and behind the Harry Potter films, Bill Taylor, Syd Dutton, Warren Beatty, Allen Daviau, Clint Eastwood, Blake Edwards, Terry Gilliam, Ray Harryhausen, Norman Jewison, Robert S. Wise and Zhang Yimou.

Producers of this year’s ADG Awards (#ADGawards) are Scott Moses ADG and Marco Miehe ADG. Award submissions open online on October 4 and run through November 8, 2018. Online nomination voting will be held December 5, 2018-January 4, 2019 and nominees announced on January 7, 2019. Final online balloting will be held January 8-31, 2019 and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 2, 2019.  ADG Awards are open only to productions when made within the U.S. by producer’s signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.