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Documentary Makers Pledge FREE Distribution to Schools... Can Manic Miner and Elite Inspire a New Golden Generation of UK Video Game Developers?
LONDON, April 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
- From Bedrooms To Billions available FREE to all UK schools from 2015
- Full length feature film financed entirely by crowd funding and pre-orders
- Pre-order limited edition before 31st May to get exclusive bonus material
- Find out more and watch the trailer at
http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
From Bedrooms To Billions is a new documentary movie by British film makers Nicola and
Anthony Caulfield. It tells the remarkable story of the UK video games industry, from its
humble beginnings in 1979 to its place in today's $93bn global business. Discover how
young, creative computer hobbyists and programmers found fame and fortune, made up the
rules as they went along, and had a blast doing it.
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419 )
The film's co-director, Anthony Caulfield, commented: "Making From Bedrooms To
Billions has been a two-year labour of love and it's very nearly finished. The first
people to see it will be our incredible crowd funding backers and those who pre-ordered,
raising more than GBP100,000 for the film's production. Without them it simply wouldn't
have happened.
"While the film has strong nostalgic appeal, we were determined to look forward as
well as back. The way the UK somehow lost its way from the early golden era of development
and publishing is very sad. However, we firmly believe this will change and that many
great opportunities lie ahead, some of which we cover in the film.
"We hope From Bedrooms To Billions will serve as a catalyst for young IT enthusiasts
to push the boundaries of what is perceived possible, just as visionary game developers
did with the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in the 1980s. That's why, once the film has
finished its cinema run, we're making it available to schools, colleges and universities
free of charge. It fits nicely with the community feel of the whole project."
The plan was announced at the recent Business and Universities Game Syndicate (BUGS)
launch at BAFTA in London. Co-founded by veteran games developer Jon Hare and Professor
Carsten Maple, BUGS aims to connect graduates and employers in order to reverse the UK
game industry's slide down the international pecking order.
This high profile event was attended by, among other senior figures, the Minister for
Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, and Ian Livingstone CBE,
co-founder of Games Workshop and author of the NESTA report, who led the successful
campaign to put computing back on the national curriculum.
Professor Carsten Maple said: "To get the UK back into the top three games developers
in the world is a big challenge. We need to make sure we've got a good talent pool and
that we attract all kinds of students. From Bedrooms To Billions is going to be screened
at each of the universities and it will tell us all about how the industry has changed."
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, added: "We
are experiencing a creative industrial revolution and games are at the heart of it. We
want the industry to benefit from graduates who are coming out of university with the
right skills, which means they hit the ground running."
Last chance tobe an official From Bedrooms To Billions backer!
Anyone contributing to the project by pre-ordering before 31st May gets instant access
to the Backer's Zone at http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
- The limited edition Blu-ray, DVD or Digital Version comes with a strictly
one-print-run-only cover designed by legendary video game artist Oliver Frey
- Pre-order the film to immediately download a clip bundle including Matthew
Smith on Manic Miner and David Braben on Elite
- Pre-order the soundtrack to get new material by 80s game music superstars Rob
Hubbard and Ben Daglish
From Bedrooms To Billions co-director, Nicola Caulfield, said: "This film is a great
piece of nostalgic entertainment. It celebrates a landmark period in the history of
British invention and documents the growth of gaming from a so-called niche hobby into the
vast, worldwide industry it is today. We've got great interviews with some of the UK's
most successful game designers, publishers, musicians and journalists. Frankly, it's about
time this amazing story was told, and we very much hope it will also act as an
inspirational learning tool to get more young people enjoying programming, IT and making
video games again.
"The film is almost done and 31st May is the cut-off point for pre-ordering the
exclusive 'Backers Edition'. As a thank you to our fantastic crowd funders we've put
together some really special extras that will never be available again. The limited
edition contains an additional 2.5 hours of footage on top of the two-hour movie. It
represents easily the most comprehensive visual record of the UK gaming story, and might
just become highly collectable."
Notes To Editors
From Bedrooms To Billions is produced by Gracious Films Ltd (
http://www.graciousfilms.com), a London-based company owned and run by writing,
producing and directing team Nicola Caulfield & Anthony Caulfield.
With a string of hits to their name, Nicola & Anthony's career highlights include
working with Pink Floyd to produce a chart-topping TV version of Dark Side of the Moon,
making a Doctor Who documentary for the BBC, and releasing their first feature film,
Immodesty Blaize - Burlesque Undressed.
Passionate about the UK video games industry, they produced the official Sonic the
Hedgehog 20th anniversary documentary, Sonic - The Birth of an Icon, and Hitman - Burning
Hope, a fly-on-the-wall documentary covering the making of Hitman Absolution.
"FromBedroomsToBillions_SpecialEdPoster" JPG available.
Anthony & Nicola Caulfield are available for interview.
For media enquiries, contact Neil Kennett on +44(0)7986-921-742 or
neil@featurebank.co.uk
Website: http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
Twitter: @FromBedrooms
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Bedrooms-to-Billions-History-of-UK-Video-Games-Industry-Movie/136306856397331
Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
From Bedrooms To Billions
Documentary Makers Pledge FREE Distribution to Schools... Can Manic Miner and Elite Inspire a New Golden Generation of UK Video Game Developers?
LONDON, April 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
- From Bedrooms To Billions available FREE to all UK schools from 2015
- Full length feature film financed entirely by crowd funding and pre-orders
- Pre-order limited edition before 31st May to get exclusive bonus material
- Find out more and watch the trailer at
http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
From Bedrooms To Billions is a new documentary movie by British film makers Nicola and
Anthony Caulfield. It tells the remarkable story of the UK video games industry, from its
humble beginnings in 1979 to its place in today's $93bn global business. Discover how
young, creative computer hobbyists and programmers found fame and fortune, made up the
rules as they went along, and had a blast doing it.
(Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419 )
The film's co-director, Anthony Caulfield, commented: "Making From Bedrooms To
Billions has been a two-year labour of love and it's very nearly finished. The first
people to see it will be our incredible crowd funding backers and those who pre-ordered,
raising more than GBP100,000 for the film's production. Without them it simply wouldn't
have happened.
"While the film has strong nostalgic appeal, we were determined to look forward as
well as back. The way the UK somehow lost its way from the early golden era of development
and publishing is very sad. However, we firmly believe this will change and that many
great opportunities lie ahead, some of which we cover in the film.
"We hope From Bedrooms To Billions will serve as a catalyst for young IT enthusiasts
to push the boundaries of what is perceived possible, just as visionary game developers
did with the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in the 1980s. That's why, once the film has
finished its cinema run, we're making it available to schools, colleges and universities
free of charge. It fits nicely with the community feel of the whole project."
The plan was announced at the recent Business and Universities Game Syndicate (BUGS)
launch at BAFTA in London. Co-founded by veteran games developer Jon Hare and Professor
Carsten Maple, BUGS aims to connect graduates and employers in order to reverse the UK
game industry's slide down the international pecking order.
This high profile event was attended by, among other senior figures, the Minister for
Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, and Ian Livingstone CBE,
co-founder of Games Workshop and author of the NESTA report, who led the successful
campaign to put computing back on the national curriculum.
Professor Carsten Maple said: "To get the UK back into the top three games developers
in the world is a big challenge. We need to make sure we've got a good talent pool and
that we attract all kinds of students. From Bedrooms To Billions is going to be screened
at each of the universities and it will tell us all about how the industry has changed."
Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, added: "We
are experiencing a creative industrial revolution and games are at the heart of it. We
want the industry to benefit from graduates who are coming out of university with the
right skills, which means they hit the ground running."
Last chance tobe an official From Bedrooms To Billions backer!
Anyone contributing to the project by pre-ordering before 31st May gets instant access
to the Backer's Zone at http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
- The limited edition Blu-ray, DVD or Digital Version comes with a strictly
one-print-run-only cover designed by legendary video game artist Oliver Frey
- Pre-order the film to immediately download a clip bundle including Matthew
Smith on Manic Miner and David Braben on Elite
- Pre-order the soundtrack to get new material by 80s game music superstars Rob
Hubbard and Ben Daglish
From Bedrooms To Billions co-director, Nicola Caulfield, said: "This film is a great
piece of nostalgic entertainment. It celebrates a landmark period in the history of
British invention and documents the growth of gaming from a so-called niche hobby into the
vast, worldwide industry it is today. We've got great interviews with some of the UK's
most successful game designers, publishers, musicians and journalists. Frankly, it's about
time this amazing story was told, and we very much hope it will also act as an
inspirational learning tool to get more young people enjoying programming, IT and making
video games again.
"The film is almost done and 31st May is the cut-off point for pre-ordering the
exclusive 'Backers Edition'. As a thank you to our fantastic crowd funders we've put
together some really special extras that will never be available again. The limited
edition contains an additional 2.5 hours of footage on top of the two-hour movie. It
represents easily the most comprehensive visual record of the UK gaming story, and might
just become highly collectable."
Notes To Editors
From Bedrooms To Billions is produced by Gracious Films Ltd (
http://www.graciousfilms.com), a London-based company owned and run by writing,
producing and directing team Nicola Caulfield & Anthony Caulfield.
With a string of hits to their name, Nicola & Anthony's career highlights include
working with Pink Floyd to produce a chart-topping TV version of Dark Side of the Moon,
making a Doctor Who documentary for the BBC, and releasing their first feature film,
Immodesty Blaize - Burlesque Undressed.
Passionate about the UK video games industry, they produced the official Sonic the
Hedgehog 20th anniversary documentary, Sonic - The Birth of an Icon, and Hitman - Burning
Hope, a fly-on-the-wall documentary covering the making of Hitman Absolution.
"FromBedroomsToBillions_SpecialEdPoster" JPG available.
Anthony & Nicola Caulfield are available for interview.
For media enquiries, contact Neil Kennett on +44(0)7986-921-742 or
neil@featurebank.co.uk
Website: http://www.frombedroomstobillions.com
Twitter: @FromBedrooms
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Bedrooms-to-Billions-History-of-UK-Video-Games-Industry-Movie/136306856397331
Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419
Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140404/679419
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
From Bedrooms To Billions