LONDON, April 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
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.
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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 £100,000 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
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
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