Project Detail

General Magic

Synopsis

The side of Silicon Valley you never see, a tale of how great vision and epic failure can change the world.
Spun out from Apple in 1990 to create the ‘next big thing’, the ideas that now dominate the tech industry and our day-to-day lives were born at General Magic. The first smartphones. Social media. E-commerce. Even the beloved emoji. But this was before the web, before 3G, before Google, before everyone had a mobile phone in their pocket. The world was not ready in 1994 to hold the world in its hands. And though General Magic died, those concepts and the people who pioneered them went on to change almost everything.
Combining rare archive footage with contemporary stories of the Magicians today, this documentary tracks the progress of anytime, anywhere communication from a thing of sci-fi fiction in 1994 to a reality in our pockets and on our wrists today.
With members of the original Mac team and the creators of the iPhone, Android, eBay and more, this is the story of one of history’s most talented teams and what happens when those who dream big fail, fail again, fail better and ultimately succeed.
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2018 - Spotlight Documentary - World premiere

Details

Year
2018
Type of film
Features
Running time
90 mins
Format
Digital
Director
Sarah Kerruish, Matt Maude 1st Feature
Producer
Sarah Kerruish, Matt Maude
Executive Producer
Reynold D'Silva, John Giannadrea, Michael Stern
Editor
Claire Ferguson, Anna Meller
Screenwriter
Sarah Kerruish, Jonathan Key, Matt Maude, Michael Stern, Ceri Tallett
Director of Photography
Jay Maude, Matt Maude
Sound
Alastair Sirkitt
Composer
Benji Merrison, Martin Phipps
Principal cast
Tony Fadell, Marc Porat, Megan Smith
Film Image
© Spellbound II Productions

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

US, UK coproduction

Spellbound II Productions (US), Left Eye Blind Productions (UK)

Left Eye Blind Productions

Matt Maude
113 Hackney Downs Studios
London
E8 2BT

Sales Company

Cinetic Media

555 W. 25th Street, 4th Floor
New York
NY 10001

Page updates

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