"AntiTrust," a new motion picture from MGM scheduled to hit theaters Jan. 12, 2001, explores the headlong, and often cutthroat race for supremacy in the world of digital convergence

"AntiTrust," a new motion picture from MGM scheduled to hit theaters Jan. 12, 2001, explores the headlong, and often cutthroat race for supremacy in the world of digital convergence - linking telephone, television, radio and Internet. Tim Robbins ("Bob Roberts," "The Shawshank Redemption") plays Gary Winston, the brilliant and driven mastermind behind N.U.R.V., which stands for "Never Underestimate Radical Vision," a Pacific Northwest-based software company dedicated to monopolizing digital convergence. Winston dazzles promising young computer science student Milo, played by Ryan Phillippe ("I Know What You Did Last Summer," "The Way of the Gun"), into abandoning his plans to launch a start-up company with his college buddy and come work for N.U.R.V. Winston's mantra is, "In this business, you are either a one or a zero." At the heart of N.U.R.V. is the Synapse project, which is described as the world's first satellite-delivered global communications system. Milo works with a colleague named Lisa, played by Rachael Leigh Cook ("She's All That," "Get Carter"), and quickly discovers that Winston wants to win the race to dominate the market so badly, he will stop at nothing. "AntiTrust" explores the issues of surveillance, corporate espionage and intellectual property theft. In an effort to make the science look as cutting-edge and realistic as possible, the filmmakers consulted with two heavyweights in their respective industries. Tim Lindholm, an engineer at Sun Microsystems who works on the JavaSoft team, was responsible for trying to keep the computer technology from seeming outdated by the time the film was released, its creators say. For the satellite technology, Gentry Lee, the chief engineer on the Galileo spacecraft and director of science analysis and mission planning on NASA's Viking missions, lent his expertise.