Pathology, a thriller which premiered last week (4/18) at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood, marks the feature filmmaking debut of director Marc Schölermann who helms spots via Hollywood-based Über Content. The director’s credits include commercials for such clients as BMW, Lexus, Nissan and Fiat.
Released through Lion’s Gate, Pathology is a dark medical thriller that centers on a group of pathologists who devise a game wherein one player kills someone and the others have to figure out how that victim died.
Milo Ventimiglia (of the NBC hit series Heroes) stars as a medical student who is taken under the wings of these doctors and quickly finds himself being drawn into their dangerous and sinister game.
“It seems like a clever move casting the star of Heroes,” mused Schölermann, “but the fact is that when I cast Milo I didn’t know who he was.” The network phenomenon was not on air in the director’s native Germany. “Milo was so interesting to us, we were convinced he would bring an incredible amount to the role.”
The William Morris Agency first brought the script to Schölermann’s attention via Lakeshore Entertainment. The writing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor penned the screenplay.
Schölermann brought in cinematographer Ekkehart Pollack to lens the film. The pair had previously collaborated on more than 50 commercials in Europe.
In preparation for the film, the director also took a trip to the morgue: “Realism in film is so important to me,” noted Schölermann, who had the chief coroner of Los Angeles County on board as a medical adviser to the production. “Did you know that the L.A. morgue sells souvenir coffee cups, beach towels, and hats? It’s mind-blowing,” observed the director.
Schölermann is on a directorial roster at Über Content that consists of Jordan Brady, Todd Field, Jeffrey Fleisig, Gentlemen, Stewart Hendler, Jason Kohn and Dave Laden.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More