World 1-1 is the first in a documentary series on the history of video games. This chapter is about Atari and how they created a new industry. It focuses on the business deals, the personalities of the pioneers, and the creations of the engineers. This documentary will be a combination of interviews, archival footage, and reflection that retells the story to a new generation that may not know the roots of their favorite hobby.
World 1-1 will follow the early games before the arcade machine even existed. It will tell the story of how Atari created the games industry years before it should have happened and follow the lucky deals and unfortunate mistakes that almost destroyed the entire industry just as quickly as it was born. Atari was the fastest growing company in the United States at the time. It kickstarted Steve Jobs’ career, as well as others. The world’s first successful arcade machine was built there, along with the first popular home console. Atari and its engineers formed the games industry we know today. It’s time to tell this story, from the words of the creators themselves. Read more here…
Plan of Action
This Kickstarter will only fund the first movie of the documentary series. It will be a full, feature-length film. With the money we raise, we will put the funds towards equipment and travel costs to a number of locations (Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.) to interview key figures of the Atari era. We have contacted over a dozen people who were involved in the early years and others in the industry today.
We have confirmed interviews with the following men and women who were there:
Nolan Bushnell – co-founder of Atari – David Crane – co-founder of Activision
Warren Robinett – creator of Adventure, one of the world’s first RPGs
Dona Bailey – co-creator of Centipede, one of the first games to attract a large female audience
Dave Shepperd – creator of Night Driver, one of the first racing games ever
Garry Kitchen – programmer for Atari 2600’s Donkey Kong
Those who want to tell you the story as well:
Colin Moriarty – IGN Editor
Peer Schneider – Senior Vice President of Content & Publisher at IGN
Patrick Scott Patterson – Video Game Media Personality
Rick Medina – Owner of Arcade Odyssey
There are also others that we have not confirmed for interview yet, and we are still contacting others!
Jeanette Garcia and Daryl Rodriguez are independent filmmakers from Miami, FL. We have produced, directed, and edited private events in the area.
We have toured the industry, attended the expos, and met the developers. We decided it’s time to produce the video game content that we want to see.
Daryl: I’m a videographer for private events and commercials in Miami, FL. Besides filmmaking, my other passion is gaming. This is my way of marrying both passions. A few years ago I started reading about video game history and promptly researched into how many films were made on the topic. Not many. This is my biggest motivation, I’m a film person and I asked myself why there are so many documentaries made each year, but so few on the games industry.
Jeanette: I have a Master’s in English with a focus in Literature. I’m a Writing and Rhetoric professor and graduate writing tutor at FIU and also a writer. I want to bring my expertise in rhetoric and experience in writing into filmmaking. My motivation to complete this documentary is my passion for and fascination with video games, storytelling and films. I finally get to do something that combines all of these, that isn’t widely pursued, and when it’s done, I’ll get to share that with others.
