It’s finally here! I’d like to extend an invitation to everyone in the Commodore community to watch and provide feedback on this preview of the independent film I’ve been developing called I Adore My 64.
Since the film will focus on the incredible impact the Commodore 64 has had and feature the community that keeps its legacy alive, it seems only fitting to have the community’s input on it. Your thoughts and insights are welcomed and can be left in the comment section of the video.
Please feel free to share it with other Commodore groups that you may participate in. Additional exposure will only help the film as it ramps up toward a Kickstarter campaign.
If you thought that was hyperbolic, you should see the writeup page …
The Commodore 64 is, without question, the single most influential force in the birth of the home computer market
Oh my.
The campaign wants US $25K, and is only 9% funded with less than a month to go. The creator wants $8K of that to buy his own video gear, which seems … a lot. Good luck with that.
For clarity, it seems this platform requires that a project is at least 80% funded before it gets anything.
I do note that the US and Canada are mentioned, and this might fit the target audience, but to be representative I think Germany at least would also need coverage, as the pitch is that the film is about the present-day community. (I think some other European countries are quite strong too.)
But, if it’s an American film about North America, so be it. I’m not part of the target audience in any case: Acorn, Sinclair, and Amstrad are at least as important as far as I’m concerned.
Calling something “the greatest” is always going to raise controversy ranging from mere raised eyebrows to holy wars…
And that’s without taking into account country specific systems… So while the C64 was eventually popular in the UK, we had a huge variety of systems at (or before) the C64 hit the streets: Acorn Atom, BBC Micro/Master/Electron, Dragon 32 (6809), Oric-1, UK101,Newbrain, The Sinclair Z80 line-up (ZX80, 81, Spectrum), Amstrad, …
The list goes on…
Then there are other countries all forging on with their own - possibly forgotten to history due to the overwhelming presence of foreign imports…
And then there will be the age of people - the first computer we ever used will always hold a special place for a lot of us. (For me, the HP9830A for example, back in 1977/78)
The C64 was launched in the UK in 1983. 2 years after the BBC Micro was announced and a few months after the ZX Spectrum (which cost half a C64 did). So people in their early teens in 1983 had a hugh choice by then (I was at Uni. so had other ideas about computers by then)
But I have worked with people in the UK for whom the C64 was “their thing” and the Brand Loyalty force is strong in them… But they were also 10 years younger than me…
Yes, I think pitching this to C64 fans as being about the greatest machine makes commercial sense, but not any kind of historical or objective sense. On a lively Commodore forum this might be just the thing.
And I think I do wish this project success: that it gets the backers and it delivers the goods.
It looks like I’ve backed four kickstarters, one of which delivered nicely (Spectrum Next) and one of which was a close miss - Jason Scott’s 6502 Documentary ended with some gigabytes of footage at the Internet Archive. And that covered some European interviews, which seems appropriate to me.
I’m also a bit on the fence regarding these superlatives. Personally, the C64 was my first “real” computer – as in, keyboard and a screen, even if it was a portable TV set – (after a Sharp PC 1211 pocket computer), but it would be an exaggeration to claim that I “loved” it. Yes, I learned a lot from this, especially because of the many short-comings of the machine, like so many others. Yes, it was a best-selling and market-leading home computer, but I’d prefer to leave it at that.
(In other words, if the C64 was great, then for the total mismatch of hardware and the firmware provided, which challenged (at least some) users into a deeper understanding. But, how could it stand up in these terms against the mighty, beam-racing VCS? )
There is no need for going from this to the idea of some consumer product being the “greatest of all times” and raising similar superlative claims. There were many machines, many were remarkable for various aspects (some even for being remarkably unremarkable, e.g., you just have to love the Mattel Aquarius for this), some may have been more lovable than others, probably even more so those, which were a bit clunky, but all had their virtues in front of the right audience. I even respect machines, which I would criticize in other terms, for what they meant to their users, or even society as a whole.
I guess, some collectors of 1970s kit computers have a rather wholesome perspective: neither of these kit computers were great or revolutionary, but they were great projects and they meant a lot to their owners, who had assembled them, — and they deserve recognition and even love, because of this. At least, they are amazing artifacts and witnesses of an era now gone, but which can still be experienced through them.
Jeff has mentioned that he’s focusing on North America to be conservative. If he were to Include Europe, it would substantially increase production time and costs, not to mention the film’s run time. However, he did say that if this first film is well received, he’d like to do a second C64 film, this time focusing on the European community.
He’s also an Amiga fan, so maybe film number 3 would be for Amigans. I hope so !
Thanks for your feedback and thoughts. The campaign actually far outpaced the average on the platform in its first week. I was rather encouraged by that and how quickly it was acquiring pledges. We took a small dip below the median in week two and are now at or above average in week three.
When you’re talking about cinema grade video gear $8K, honestly, is a drop in the bucket. A single low-grade cinema camera is at least $4K for just the base unit and no lens. While I have been a filmmaker for over 25 years and personally own some gear I don’t have everything needed to produce a film at this level can’t realistically front all that money. I have been very selective about what gear I minimally need to to maintain the quality that is seen in the preview. As detailed in the blog on our website, during some of the initial production phases I had access to free equipment. But, as it stands now, I don’t and am forced to write that cost in. Additionally, overall, $25K is an extremely low budget for a project at this quality scale and that involves this much travel.
As for the 64 being the best of all time of course its up for discussion and not everyone will agree. But, I don’t think it serves me well to title the film I Kinda Like My 64. That probably wouldn’t excite potential backers as much. LOL.
Thanks for your encouragement. Everyone is going to feel differently about what is the best of all time and in what way. It’s not really the focus of the film. Centrally it’s a celebration of the modern-day community that is still keeping the platform thriving.
I know that people in the retro community have been burned on other film projects to one degree or another. That is actually the reason we developed a 10-minute preview before we launched the campaign. It’s also one of reasons we decided to use Seed & Spark and not Kickstarter. Kickstarter’s success rate is down around 30 while the independent, film-centric S&S is at 82%. They offer a guided process (unlike Kickstarter), have requirements you have to meet before launch and is a recommended and respected platform that other indie filmmakers have used. However, I recognize the lack on name recognition may have been a negative for some potential backers.
Thanks for your thoughts and I hope you’ll become a part of the team that helps make this film happen in whatever way you choose.
This is exactly correct and thank you for saying it. What we can or can’t do will be completely based on how supportive the Commodore and greater retro community are during the campaign. I would love to explore the 64 scene on other side of the pond. But, promising people things that your budget can’t realistically deliver is just setting people up for another disappointing and frustrating crowdfunding experience. Scaling the project up to meet the budget we receive seems much wiser than promising the world on a shoestring budget and then disappointing everyone.
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