Paul Docherty’s Heart of Neon documentary film about game design wizard Jeff Minter will debut during GDC Festival of Gaming on March 11 in San Francisco.
The screening of Heart of Neon will take place at the Victoria Theatre on Wednesday, March 11, in San Francisco, with festivities starting at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time.
Presented by games industry consulting collective fractional/ and sponsored by Commodore and Atari, the film’s premiere is set to take place at a time when the entire games industry descends on San Francisco for one of its biggest events: GDC Festival of Gaming, held annually at Moscone Center.
Heart of Neon chronicles the four-decade career of Minter, founder of the indie game studio Llamasoft and creator of beloved games including Tempest 2000, Gridrunner, Attack of the Mutant Camels and Polybius. He has released over 100 video game titles under the banner of Llamasoft, which he formed back in 1982.
In addition to games, Minter’s career has explored the experimental and playful side of music through light synthesizers and visualizers, including the music visualizer he created for the Xbox 360. In an industry that has grown exponentially around him, Minter has charted his own course for more than four decades, offering an inspiring model for how independent creative work and commercial game development can coexist and elevate each other.
“Jeff Minter is a childhood hero of mine, and his story is one that every game developer, independent or otherwise, deserves to know,” said Peri Fractic, CEO of Commodore, in a statement. “I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to support the debut of Paul’s film with an audience of creators and industry insiders during one of the year’s most meaningful weeks for the video game industry.”
Heart of Neon is directed by Paul Docherty (also known as d0kk), a filmmaker whose roots in the video game industry give him a uniquely personal window into Minter’s world.
Docherty began as a graphics designer in the 1980s before building a distinguished career as a documentary editor, with credits including Jodorowsky’s Dune for Sony Pictures Classics and Facing Forward: A Student’s Story for PBS. His animation work has also appeared in Genesis: Together and Apart and Lennon NYC. Heart of Neon marks Docherty’s feature directorial debut.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Docherty hosted by longtime video game journalist, author, and presenter Chris Kohler. Doors open at 6:30pm and the evening’s activities will start at 7:00pm. Following the Q&A, attendees are invited to a networking party in the Victoria Theatre lobby from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m., hosted by title sponsor Commodore. The party will feature complimentary popcorn and hands-on access to Commodore 64 Ultimate units loaded with Minter’s classics.
Attendance for the screening is free of charge, but an RSVP is required. To secure your ticket, visit https://luma.com/yih6zf30.