There was a time, a brief glittering moment in the 80's, that the Brits ruled the video game industry. It may be hard to fathom now, but it is undeniably true.
"From Bedrooms to Billions" is a new crowdfunded, documentary film produced and directed by the husband and wife team of Anthony and Nicola Caulfield. It is a well-presented and technically proficient film...but, like most things British, it is somewhat unexciting and long-winded.
"From Bedrooms to Billions has been a very personal project for us since June 2008. Having completed many documentaries we have always wanted to document the rise of the British video games industry and the incredible story that went with it," said co-producer/director Anthony Caulfield. "What's so fascinating is how the UK computer scene was originally nothing more than a scientific curiosity which snowballed into something so vast. As we started putting this film together we uncovered so many incredible stories, these people had to literally make up an industry as they went, some were very successful, but others were not so, however collectively we felt it a strong story that's long overdue and should make a wonderful movie."
Starting in the late 1970's, the film shows how the creativity and vision of a relatively small number of British individuals, many of which were children, allowed the UK to play a key, pioneering role in the shaping of the worldwide billion dollar video games industry, which today dominates the modern world's entertainment landscape.
The sudden availability of affordable home computer technology in the UK of the late 1970's early 1980's, such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, helped inspire a generation of small team enthusiasts, hobbyists, school children and entrepreneurs to start creating their own games and form a basic mail-order market from seemingly nowhere. The appearance of these fairly primitive, UK produced computer games within the pages of the equally primitive emerging computer magazines ignited the interest of millions of school children across the country and the demand for more and more eventually led to spare room styled, cottage mail order businesses for many transforming into professional companies dealing in the mainstream and turning over millions with the sky the only limit.
However, like any brand new industry with no prior history to look back on for guidance, it was quite a ride for those involved with many ups and downs.
"From Bedrooms to Billions" reveals some of the remarkable stories, struggles and successes that saw the UK video games industry go from quite literally nothing into a major multi-million pound British industry littered with original thinkers, innovators and eccentric characters within only a few short years and then what happened when it seemed the UK could only go on to dominate the world in the 90's and beyond.
Featuring new interviews with key contributors to the UK story from across video game development, publishing, music, and journalism from the last 40 years, combined with stand-out visual archive and music from video game musicians Rob Hubbard and Ben Daglish, "From Bedrooms to Billions" reveals the importance of this era and why it has become such a landmark period in the history of British invention, creativity, and industry.
The film itself runs at a meaty two and half hours long...that's without viewing all of the extended interviews and extra material. This film is clearly of labor of love, and it tells a great, sprawling story for sure, but it lacks any real pizazz or humor. It's workman-like in that respect - it gets you from point "A" to point "B" in good order, but does little more than that. It's almost like a history class for video games put to film; it's very interesting in places and very dry in others. Maybe it's because I'm not a Brit that I found it a bit dull in places? Hard to say, because I typically cannot get enough of these kinds of documentaries, but this one left me a bit cold all the same.
Two other things that really stood out to me were, firstly, the Caulfield's inclusion and focus on the importance of journalists and video game/computer magazines (Zzap 64, Compute!, etc.) of that era. I may be a bit biased in that, but it is something I feel that has been glossed over in other historical documentaries of video games, and it was fantastic to see a real effort to focus on that aspect in "From Bedrooms to Billions."
Secondly, the glaring omission of any kind of interview with the Stamper brothers (Rare Software and Ultimate Play the Game) who are arguably the best, brightest, and most well-known British video game developers, is definitely noticeable. They are almost reverently mentioned in the film, of course, but that's it. I understand that the reclusive brothers are essentially out of the video game business (they checked out of Rare not long after Microsoft bought the company in 2002), but I would have loved to have seen/heard their recollections of the heady era chronicled in this film as well.
All in all, this is well-made film for lovers of video game history. If you are that, then you will dig "From Bedrooms to Billions." If you aren't a fan such films, then you will probably find this documentary about as interesting as stale, unbuttered toast.
"From Bedrooms to Billions" is out now on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download. You can check out the official website here, and the full trailer for the film is below:
