Apple II Bits

Almost two years ago, filmmaker Glenn Aveni concluded a successful Kickstarter to produce a documentary about the Us Festival, a concert held today in 1982 and organized by Steve Wozniak. The final DVD was ambitiously scheduled for production for just seven months later, in July 2017. But Kickstarters rarely run on schedule, as good art takes time. So it’s just this summer, a year later than planned, that we’re seeing the first trailer for the documentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxgy_aISxVk

While the main attraction for readers of this blog may be Woz, the focus of the documentary is on the festival, not its organizers. While Woz makes appearances in original interviews conducted for this film, the musicians and concert appear to take center stage. That’s not surprising — the event was called the Us Festival, not the Woz Festival, after all.

But Kickstarter backers have not received an update since November 2017, and I can’t find a website or release date for the film. It’s being distributed by MVD Entertainment Group, whose website says the film was released on August 10, 2018 — but they’ve not responded to emails or tweets indicating where the movie can be seen or purchased.

I’m hopeful the trailer is evidence that the movie is not vaporware and that we will soon have our glimpses of the musical, event-organizing sides of Woz.

(Hat tip to Martin Kielty)