ACA 2020 - The Summit of Angel Investing attendees:
screen General Magic for Free (free screening for registered attendees only).
Featured Virtual Session:
General Magic Documentary Teaches Angels Powerful Lessons about Timing, Leadership, and Strategy
General Magic, winner of seven Best Documentary awards, is the untold tale of how a great vision and an epic failure changed the world. Spun out from Apple in 1990 to create the ‘next big thing’, a secretive Silicon Valley start-up called General Magic shipped the first handheld personal communicator in 1994. From smartphones to social media, e-commerce to the emoticon, the ideas that dominate the tech industry and our day to day lives were born at General Magic, created by the engineers (or “Magicians”) who worked there.
The General Magic documentary holds special value for angel investors, because it tells a true story about the rise and fall of tech startups, teaching us valuable lessons about timing, leadership, and strategy. Now, for the first time, angels will have a chance to engage and interact with the film’s Executive Producer, Michael Stern, Sarah Kerruish (Director, Producer & Writer ) and Matt Maude
(Director, Producer, Writer & Cinematographer) during a special virtual discussion panel on Wednesday, May 13, as part of ACA 2020 – The Summit of Angel Investing.
Captivating personalities featured within General Magic:
- Tony Fadell (iPod inventor, iPhone co-inventor, founder of Nest, and Principal at Future Shape)
- Megan Smith (VP at Google, Chief Technology Officer USA, President Obama’s Administration)
- Andy Hertzfeld (co-inventor of the Macintosh Computer, co-inventor of Google Circles)
- Joanna Hoffman (core Macintosh group member, played by Kate Winslet in Danny Boyle’s ‘Jobs’,
- Kevin Lynch (former CTO of Adobe Inc, Vice President of Technology at Apple Inc)
Reviews of General Magic:
- ‘Such an involving documentary for so many reasons it’s hard to know where to begin.’ (LA Times)
- ‘A fascinating tale.’ (The Hollywood Reporter)
- ‘The biggest eye-opener of Tribeca 2018.’ (Film Journal)
- ‘Poignant, entertaining and full of life and lessons.’ (Forbes)
- ‘Gripping material, deftly edited, General Magic is remarkable’ (Barrons)
- ‘General Magic is a reminder of how compelling stories about technology can be’ (The Verge)
About the Executive Producer:
Michael Stern is senior counsel in Cooley’s technology transactions group in Palo Alto. He has practiced law in Silicon Valley for 35 years, working with startups and established companies such as Pixar, NeXT, eBay, Adobe and Cisco. Stern is a former English professor and newspaper reporter with stories published in dozens of publications; he is also an active Dickens scholar.
About the Filmmakers:
Sarah Kerruish
Director, Producer & Writer
In 1993, Sarah worked with a documentary crew filming the team at General Magic. As a former Magician herself, Sarah’s unparalleled access to the subjects in our film allowed her to bring the greatest insight and intimacy to the heart of our story. Her previous films have been distributed worldwide garnering a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination. In 2017, she made a short film about the last week of President Obama’s presidency at the White House.
Matt Maude
Director, Producer, Writer & Cinematographer
Matt is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and producer. After starring in the UK ITV soap Crossroads during his teenage years, Matt moved to working behind the camera, directing and producing features, commercials and shorts. He is a member of the UK’s regional screen agencies ‘Super 8’ - one of eight filmmakers to watch. In 2017, he joined Sarah Kerruish in creating a film about the last week of the Obama White House. ‘General Magic’ is his first documentary feature film.
