"Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview" Coming to Theaters

[daxomni]

Of all the reader suggestions for what I should do with my little film Steve Jobs -- The Lost Interview, not one involved showing the movie in theaters. Yet that was the first thing that came to my mind.

Couldn't take a hint apparently.

 

[Xenious]

he lost me at...

theater and Mark Cuban. I knew at that point the motive was lots of profit not community.

 

[bretm]

What a bunch of ungrateful whiny babies! I suppose you'd rather it be left deteriorating in his garage. You think restoring a 1995 VHS tape for theater release / broadcast is cheap? He did the original work, he dug up and restored the project and who knows what else. Sure a theater release is a little odd, but it might be really cool. I'm sure it will be on DVD/ Netflix/ TV soon enough.

 

[zea mays]

Eh. It'll make a good weeknight date with hubby - we'll be there. Certainly, no worse than lots of things that are in the theatre!

 

[snebes]

The real story behind the "lost" interview:

"Unbeknown to Cringely, Paul Sen, director of "Triumph of the Nerds," had dubbed a VHS copy of the Jobs interview and chucked it in the back of his garage in a London suburb, where it sat collecting dust for years.

After Jobs died, Sen went looking for the interview. He told Cringely of his find and suggested that perhaps Cringely could put it on his technology blog I Cringely as a "gift to the world."

"He didn't see any commercial value in it," Cringely said. "I have three kids I have to put through college, so I thought maybe we could sell it."

Cringely sent Landmark Theatres co-owner Mark Cuban an email late one night, less than three weeks ago, to see whether there would be any interest in screening it on Landmark screens. Less than five minutes later, Cuban fired back that he was game."

...

http://mobile.latimes.com/p.p?a=rp&...DL.w=&DL.d=10&DQ=sectionId%3A5226&DPS=0&DPL=3


----

So basically Cringley is just trying to cash in on it like everyone else.

Mark Cuban is the one cashing in on this. He is the bigger a--hole.

theater and Mark Cuban. I knew at that point the motive was lots of profit not commiunity.

I'm glad someone else noticed that name got slipped in there...

 

[TheReadyPrompt]

Robert X. (makes me) Cringely. His name is Mark Stephens. Like most of his writing, his name is revisionist bunk.

There's nothing wrong with "cashing in" on anything. If you don't like it, there's a little site called The Pirate Bay just for you.

 

[ibis99]

I wonder why they feel the need to cash in on Mr. Jobs death.

----------

What a bunch of ungrateful whiny babies! I suppose you'd rather it be left deteriorating in his garage. You think restoring a 1995 VHS tape for theater release / broadcast is cheap? He did the original work, he dug up and restored the project and who knows what else. Sure a theater release is a little odd, but it might be really cool. I'm sure it will be on DVD/ Netflix/ TV soon enough.

"Oh yea we lost that tape. Oh wait we found in my garage. What a miracle!"

What a bunch of BS!

 

[movie-mac]

I don't believe a word Cringely is saying, with one exception:

And did I mention that getting a writing credit for a film opening in theaters finally qualifies me for group health insurance through the Writers Guild of America? I haven’t been eligible for group health insurance since 1994.
Source

We are supposed to believe they went through "extensive restoration" for the video, when their press photo looks like this:

They could not deinterlace this one photo for the press, but worked extensively on the video? I do not believe it.

I think this video has been laying around for a long time, only waiting for the perfect opportunity to publish it. And obviously that time has come.

 

[kjs862]

great, thanks for the news. i just told siri to remind me to watch it!

 

[proboscisjoe]

Like DUH!

This can't be a "lost interview" because he has it. "Lost" is defined as missing, gone, vanished. By definition, this guy's an idiot.

Idiot Or competent marketeer? O_O

 

[dndlnx]

This is odd. Will people go to see this?

Steve Jobs is great and everything, but ya know...

 

[Cartaphilus]

Does somebody want to explain the outrage to me? This guy owns the rights to a filmed interview with Steve Jobs, and he is offering the public the opportunity to watch it in a movie theater for a fee in the range of what it costs to see a movie. What's wrong with this? Steve Jobs' death, as regrettable as it was, wasn't hastened by anything this fellow did, and the fact that people may be more interested in someone just after his death is unsurprising.

No one is being forced to attend, no taxes are funding the project, and presumably no animals were harmed during the filming. If someone's sensibilities are offended by paying to watch a video in a movie theater, he ought not buy a ticket.

Steve Jobs made billions for himself by selling things people wanted to buy. Sales of Michael Jackson's music in iTunes soared after his death, profiting Apple and ultimately Jobs, who presumably suffered no pangs of remorse for any disrespect of Jackson's memory. I understand that others have made money selling things people want, often without protest, and I doubt very many of them did so solely to improve the human condition. Why is this offering any different?

And why is it a mark of solemn respect for the memory of Steve Jobs to illegally pirate the intellectual property of others rather than to pay the rightful owner for it? Especially when Jobs himself came to abhor the infringement of intellectual property?

I've read Isaacson's book, watched the PBS documentary, and I've bought a ticket to see this interview. I'm a longtime devoted consumer of Apple products, and I find Jobs' personality and life story fascinating. Why shouldn't I go to a movie theater to watch the interview?

 

[jaw04005]

What a bunch of ungrateful whiny babies! I suppose you'd rather it be left deteriorating in his garage. You think restoring a 1995 VHS tape for theater release / broadcast is cheap? He did the original work, he dug up and restored the project and who knows what else. Sure a theater release is a little odd, but it might be really cool. I'm sure it will be on DVD/ Netflix/ TV soon enough.

Actually, the guy responsible for releasing it in theaters (Cringley) didn't do any of the work to preserve the interview or "find" it. The director of Triumph of the Nerds did.

He provided it to Cringley with the intent for him to put it on his blog after Jobs' death. Yet, for some reason ($$$) Cringley decided to release it to a limited audience theatrically.

Personally, I think he'll make his $6000 back but I don't think this will be as big of a jackpot as he thinks.

 

[Rad99004]

I'm sure he just happened across it... And how dumb to show it in theaters.

You would think he would try to put it on iTunes? Or better yet post it for free. I for one am not going to the theater to watch an interview. So I agree, dumb idea bound to fail.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

And why is it a mark of solemn respect for the memory of Steve Jobs to illegally pirate the intellectual property of others rather than to pay the rightful owner for it? Especially when Jobs himself came to abhor the infringement of intellectual property?

I've read Isaacson's book, watched the PBS documentary, and I've bought a ticket to see this interview. I'm a longtime devoted consumer of Apple products, and I find Jobs' personality and life story fascinating. Why shouldn't I go to a movie theater to watch the interview?

Because Steve would have watched a bootleg copy of the same "Lost Interview" with Bob Dylan when he was the same age as most of the posters around here.

Really, if anyone ever needed an incentive to engage in software piracy, Steve Jobs is now the patron saint. He stole copyrighted works and even profited from the resale of them. If he's your hero, emulation is the sincerest form of flattery. Downloading a ripped copy of his bio, seeing a ripped copy of his movie, etc.....all of this is blessed by Saint Steve.

If you really had read the book, you'd know this.

 

[admanimal]

He stole copyrighted works and even profited from the resale of them.

Funny, I read the whole book and don't remember any actual incidents of copyright theft.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

Funny, I read the whole book and don't remember any actual incidents of copyright theft.

OK, I stand corrected. He "only" confessed in book to selling blueboxes to enable theft of service from the phone companies.

The book does make several references to his extensive bootleg collection (Dylan, Beatles, he and Woz tramping around San Jose tracking down as many bootlegs as they could, etc.) and since the internet didn't exist back then, I wonder how many of these he got for free?


My bad...but still, he was clearly not concerned with protection of intellectual property rights or paying for things when it came to HIS passions.

 

[Thunderbird]

From the Lost Interview:

"I've always been shameless at stealing great ideas"

"Good artists copy, great artists steal"

" I don't really care about being right, I just care about success"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK7TQVFSA1Y&feature=related

 

[Winni]

Why not distribute it freely digitally in iPod/aTV/iPad/Mac friendly files! Seriously this is lame!

The important parts of this interview are on YouTube anyway, and have been there for years.

 

[fteoath64]

Morals man. He ain't got any. Yet, he wanted to accuse others of stealing his stuff, like Android "stealing" from IOS. What hypocrisy!. Now he knows.

 

[justperry]

Does somebody want to explain the outrage to me? This guy owns the rights to a filmed interview with Steve Jobs, and he is offering the public the opportunity to watch it in a movie theater for a fee in the range of what it costs to see a movie. What's wrong with this? Steve Jobs' death, as regrettable as it was, wasn't hastened by anything this fellow did, and the fact that people may be more interested in someone just after his death is unsurprising.

No one is being forced to attend, no taxes are funding the project, and presumably no animals were harmed during the filming. If someone's sensibilities are offended by paying to watch a video in a movie theater, he ought not buy a ticket.

Steve Jobs made billions for himself by selling things people wanted to buy. Sales of Michael Jackson's music in iTunes soared after his death, profiting Apple and ultimately Jobs, who presumably suffered no pangs of remorse for any disrespect of Jackson's memory. I understand that others have made money selling things people want, often without protest, and I doubt very many of them did so solely to improve the human condition. Why is this offering any different?

And why is it a mark of solemn respect for the memory of Steve Jobs to illegally pirate the intellectual property of others rather than to pay the rightful owner for it? Especially when Jobs himself came to abhor the infringement of intellectual property?

I've read Isaacson's book, watched the PBS documentary, and I've bought a ticket to see this interview. I'm a longtime devoted consumer of Apple products, and I find Jobs' personality and life story fascinating. Why shouldn't I go to a movie theater to watch the interview?

You've got a point there and I agree, why the hate.
One person's loss is another person's gain.
Its all around us so why this much hatred.

 

[Igantius]

Does somebody want to explain the outrage to me? This guy owns the rights to a filmed interview with Steve Jobs, and he is offering the public the opportunity to watch it in a movie theater for a fee in the range of what it costs to see a movie. What's wrong with this?

That one’s kinda stumped me. Personally, I’m pleased that people will be able to watch this in different ways, rather than it never seeing the light of day.

You would think he would try to put it on iTunes? Or better yet post it for free. I for one am not going to the theater to watch an interview. So I agree, dumb idea bound to fail.

Cringley has said there will be “many ways” people will be able to watch the interview, but it will be shown in these cinemas first. It’s not as if people have to make the choice of going to the cinema or never seeing it.

The important parts of this interview are on YouTube anyway, and have been there for years.

Would you be able to let us know what the unaired parts are about?

 

[ThanksSteve]

Should be interesting. That was the interview that he initially went after Bill Gates for his stealing Apple ideas and lack of creativity.

 

[ProVideo]

 

[ronwasserman]

Okay. He was brilliant. Enough already. Stop trying to soak every possible dime out of his passing.

But enjoy this time because in 5 years Apple will not be the same company we know today.