Every Mac user knows the story, or ought to: The Two Steves, Wozniak and Jobs, created and sold computers from their parents’ garage, and worked that humble beginning into an industry defining business. In the process, of course, they become rich and famous. It’s the computer nerd’s version of the American Dream.
Stuff like only happens to the lucky, or in the movies, right?
Well…sort of.
Two brothers, Kevin and Kerry Coran, toiled away for years perfecting a 6 minute presentation on their Macs, a presentation that becomes the humble beginnings of a new blockbuster movie with big movie stars. It’s a nerd fairy-tale come true; the Nerd’s American Dream: Part 2. The movie is called Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow. (The trailer is available at Apple QuickTime Movie Trailer site).
And what’s really cool about this is that the Coran brother started, and are continuing, their dream on Macs.
Countdown.com’s Larry Carroll has posted a story about his visit to the production studio of the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. From that report:
Producer Jon Avnet, he of such blockbusters as Risky Business and George of the Jungle, lords over the young workers like Kathie Lee Gifford with her underage sweatshirt stitchers, checking in every now and then to make sure the production line is moving along. The 55-year old movie veteran may not understand what they’re doing with their virtual desktops, rotoscopes and rendering machines, but he knows what the end result is going to be. "This is a movie by a nerd, for nerds," says Avnet, who has the voice of Al Michaels and the energy of the Micro Machines man. "It just happens to be accessible to normal people."
Avnet refers to his young directorial prodigy, Kerry Conran. A sheepish visionary with an eye for style and the desire to make a movie since age thirteen, Conran wrote his own CGI program nearly a decade ago with the intention of breathing life into a screenplay he called Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. For four years Kerry and his brother Kevin used the program (which enables a director to shoot a film on blue screen and fill in the backgrounds with images) in their garage to create a six-minute presentation on their Mac, a presentation that would eventually find its way into the hands of a "blown away" Avnet. Since then, it’s been his mission to bring the Conrans’ vision to life. "It’s like the Revenge of the Nerds is over," Avnet laughs. "And the nerds have won. Just as Lucas did when he started the Star Wars world."
You can read the full account at Countdown.com.
The Mac Observer Spin:
No matter how often we hear about kids doing cool things with their Macs, it never ceases to amaze us when we see the results. Then there’s what professionals do with their Macs. That often blows us away, and such is the case with this story. Definitely check it out.