Production Updates (continued)

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December 21, 2022

The Christmas vacation continues and so does the work on the film! The last couple days I've been cutting responses from the fascinating interview I had with Leif Bloomquist. He's a longtime member of TPUG (Toronto PET Users Group) and a C64 software and hardware developer who has done some incredible things. They include developing a WiFi modem for the 64 and games that can be played collaboratively over the Internet. He credits his career in the aerospace industry to the experiences he had early on in life with Commodore computers.

Also, it's still really cold here in southeast Michigan!

December 21, 2022

Officially on Christmas vacation and visiting family in Michigan (bbbrrr!) but also working on cutting the footage from our shoot with Anthony Becker. 

December 6, 2022

I've just returned from filming at World of Commodore 2022 and it was an amazing time. There was an incredible group of Commodore enthusiasts nerding out together and there was a ton of computers, software and hardware.  Some of which I had never seen in person. They also had many speakers throughout the two-day event. I was one of them!

TPUG (Toronto PET Users Group, tpug.ca), organizers of the annual event, asked me to speak about the film. I was honored to be given the opportunity! If you'd like to catch a portion of my talk you can view it here: https://bit.ly/3XZgs5U. I believe that in a week or two TPUG will have the entire talk posted on their YouTube channel.

I also had the opportunity to sit down with Leif Bloomquist. He's a long time member of TPUG and has been a part of their all-volunteer leadership team. We had a great discussion about his experience with the Commodore 64 and how it's impacted his life. Today, Leif works as an Senior Software Systems Engineer in the aerospace industry but he has also greatly contributed greatly to the modern day Commodore community. From creating one of the very first Commodore Wifi modems, to writing multiplayer retro games that can be played collaboratively over the Internet, Leif has helped keep the 64 and its legacy alive.

So what's next for the production of the film you may ask? Well now that we've captured interviews with four well known Commodore community members as well as footage from this year's world of Commodore we're ready to build the final preview of the film and use it in a Kickstarter campaign. It's been a long road to get to this point but I'm so glad to finally be at this stage. Watch for updates here and on the new Facebook page, facebook.com/iadoremy64film.com as we prepare to launch!

November 20, 2022

Finally! That's all I can say. After three different attempts over a seven month time span I am happy to announce that we were able to capture an amazing interview and associated footage with our third interviewee, Anthony Becker. My second camera operator, Dan and I both agreed that  it really couldn't have gone much smoother.

Some of you may know Anthony from the YouTube channel The Guru Mediation (https://bit.ly/3U4fTo4). He and Bill Winters (aka Amiga Bill) have been hosts on this channel for many years. But, some may not know that Anthony's first computer, the one that made him a lifelong Commodore fan, was a Commodore 64. Not only does he have quite an impressive collection of Commodore computers but also other very rare, very early Commodore products like a typewriter, calculator and watch. We had a great time sitting down with him, hearing about his journey with Commodore and why the 64 holds a special place in his heart.  Now that we've captured this interview we have what we need to build a preview and subsequently launch a Kickstarter campaign.

But, there's more. I mentioned in my last update but, I can now confirm that I am attending a huge Commodore event December 3-4. As some hard core fans might have guessed it's World of Commodore 2022, held in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (https://bit.ly/3U0gyXz). This is set to be an amazing two-day event. They'll be exhibitors, speakers and feature special guest David Pleasance, the former managing director of Commodore UK and author of the book Commodore The Inside Story: The Untold Tale of a Computer Giant.

I've been given permission by the event organizers to shoot at the event. But, even more exciting is the fact that another interviewee who I had hoped to interview after the film has been funded will be there and has agreed to be interviewed. I'll keep that under wraps for now but I will say he has recently burst onto the Commodore scene with the release of a massive development for the Commodore 64.

I can't wait. Hope to see you there!

November 9, 2022

Game time. We're rescheduled to shoot with our third interviewee on November 19. I've rented over $2000 worth of gear that is supposed to arrive next Tuesday. A very generous investor offered to cover these costs. After it arrives I'll be going through all of it to make sure it's all in working order. We definitely don't need any more snafus. I can't believe it's finally happening but I am certainly looking forward to it. This is the last component we need to build the film's preview and launch the Kickstarter campaign. I'll report back after this shoot is over.

On another note, I may be attending a huge Commodore event in Decemeber and have the opportunity to interview two more people that are on my list. More to come on that front later. As I write this, we're preparing for another hurricane (Nicole). You have to love Florida.... At least it will be over before our shoot date.

October 10, 2022

Hold plans loosely. That seems to be the ongoing theme of the production of this film.

My second camera and I were scheduled to shoot our third interviewee on October 8. However, on September 28 my home state of Florida (also where the interviewee resides) was hit by the massive hurricane Ian, the like of which has not been seen "for 500 years." My house had water intruision and we came as very close to having our entire first floor flooded. I am thanking God because if could have been much worse. As we approached the shoot date my family and I had mostly recovered. There was little to no damage at the interviewee’s house. He affirmed we could come. We were in the clear... or so I thought.

Then I got COVID. Yes, seriously. I thought after all the time that passed that I had dodged the bullet. I’ve had all the jabs and tried to be very careful but it wasn’t enough. We had to reschedule the shoot… again. Hopefully, November, barring any other unforeseen event.

Onward.

August 21, 2022

"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." —C.S. Lewis

It's been a very difficult month and a half. The film's production has been dealt a major blow. Just hours before we were about to leave for our rescheduled shoot with our third interviewee I received the news that my position at my job of 12 years was being "closed" and was effective immediately. Needless to say it was devastating. What made it worse was that I had received permission to use all the gear at my job for the production of the film. However, now that my job with the organization was over that courtesy was completely and immediately rescinded. We had to cancel the shoot a second time.

Suffice to say, under any circumstance, being let go from your job is a lot to take in. In the midst of all the other questions in my mind about what the future would hold for my family and this one came forward: should I attempt to continue the effort to get this film produced or is it time to let it go? I've spent hours deliberating it in my own mind. I've discussed it with my wife, my most trusted and closest friend, and leaned on the wisdom of others I trust. I've prayed about it. Here's the determination I've come to:

The film will move forward.

It's going to be difficult to say the least. It changes the dynamics of everything I had planned not the least of which is the associated expense. I don't personally own any gear or even an editing system. My whole career I've worked for others who owned the gear. However, a supporter of the film has stepped forward and said they're willing to cover the cost of renting gear for a shoot with our third interviewee. As a result, I've put my own time, money and effort into building an editing system from scratch (an Intel i9 with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080Ti for the nerds out there) and an associated RAID system to house the enormous amount of footage we'll capture. It's built,  tested and ready to edit.

In other words, I'm all in.

I always knew there creating this film would be a monumental amount of work and that there would be set backs. I didn't ever imagine being in this place.  But, ironically, it has made me to really pause and ask myself if this a mountain I really want to climb.

Answer: I'll see you at the summit.

April 2, 2022

I've never known a major film production that hasn't faced some obstacles and this one isn't any different. We were all set to interview our third person for the film's preview. However, hours before we were to leave an unexpected medical need arose within my family and we had to cancel. Our interviewee has been very gracious about the delay. We're actively working to reschedule this shoot and we hope to have it completed by the end of this month. 

In the meantime I've actively been working on Bo and David's segments. I am very happy with how they are turning out. I've also begun to shoot studio setups of various Commodore machines as b-roll for some of the narratives. I'm really excited about all the progress.

December 14, 2021

Our first two production shoots have wrapped! While there were a few snafus (I'll never fly Frontier airlines again) we had incredible with our first two interviewees for the film. The first was Bo Zimmerman. He's well known within the Commodore community for his extensive collection of vintage Commodore computers and hardware. However, he also maintains the amazing website, zimmers.net that houses extensive documentation of Commodore hardware and software. He was very gracious and sat for a two and a half hour interview. We also filmed a in depth tour of his incredible collection. Later that same day the user group he founded, CTCUG, (Central Texas Commodore Users Group, facebook.com/ctcug/) had a meetup. It was an awesome opportunity to shoot footage of this group in action.

Our second interviewee is no stranger to anyone who is into the retro computer scene be it Commodore or otherwise. David Murray is an incredibly popular YouTube content creator who has gained over a 1.3 million subscribers. He grew up on Commodore computers and alongside creating content for his YouTube channel, The 8-bit Guy (https://bit.ly/2vnC5kn), he also codes and distributes new games for the Commodore 64 and other retro computers. He's has his hand in some many thing that it's hard to know when he has time to sleep. But, he was very kind and gave us a one hour, forty minute interview. It was fascinating to hear about his personal history with the Commodore 64 and why he thinks it is such a unique and special machine within within the history of computers.

In March of 2022 we hope to conduct an interview with one last interviewee before we go on to create a preview of the film.

November 16, 2021

It's officially begun! Flight, hotel and other details have been purchased. The first production trip for I Adore My 64 is December 11, 2021! We'll be capturing two of the three interviews needed to build the preview of the film for a Kickstarter campaign. 

October 17, 2021

The project has really sprouted wings. Today, a third interviewee has agreed to appear in the preview of the film . It's another notable figure in the Commodore world who has a respectable collection of Commodore devices and some very rare items. They're only about three hours drive from our base of operations and we're dialoging about when we can conduct an interview. 

September 28, 2021

Another huge development! A second major figure in the Commodore and retro computer community has agreed to be interviewed. We don't want to spoil the surprise but we will say that this individual runs a very popular YouTube channel that has over a million followers. We plan to shoot this interview during the same trip we capture the first interviewee. Plans are in motion for this to happen in late 2021.

September 2021

It's happening. We've taken a huge leap toward turning this project into reality. 

It's with great excitement that we're announcing that a well known figure within the Commodore 64 community has agreed to be interviewed for the launch preview of the film. In turn, the interview and associated footage will be developed into a vignette that will exemplify what the final film will look and feel like. Once complete it will be used to help promote the official Kickstarter campaign for the film.

May 2021

Presently, I Adore My 64 is seeking funding and reaching out to potential interviewees for the film. If you are personally connected to someone that you feel should be considered for an interview please contact us via the form below.

September 2020

Concept development and initial research is underway. A concept teaser trailer for the film has been released.

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