Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Martyn Burke

Writers (WGA):

Paul Freiberger (book) and
Michael Swaine (book) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 June 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Good artists create... Great artists steal.

Plot:

History of Apple and Microsoft.

Plot Keywords:

Apple | Bill Gates | Computer | College | Apple Computer

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Noah Wyle	...	Steve Jobs
Joey Slotnick	...	Steve Wozniak
J.G. Hertzler	...	Ridley Scott
Anthony Michael Hall	...	Bill Gates
Wayne Pére	...	Captain Crunch
Sheila Shaw	...	Mrs. Wozniak
Gema Zamprogna	...	Arlene
John Di Maggio	...	Steve Ballmer (as John DiMaggio)
Josh Hopkins	...	Paul Allen
Gailard Sartain	...	Ed Roberts
Allan Kolman	...	Therapist
Richard Waltzer	...	Homebrew Tech
Harris Mann	...	Longhair #1
Clay Wilcox	...	Longhair #2
Marcus Giamatti	...	Dan Kottke
Melissa Suzanne McBride	...	Elizabeth Holmes (as Melissa McBride)
Jeffrey Nordling	...	Mike Markkula
Marc Worden	...	Chris Larson
Kelly Mullis	...	Prostitute
Rene Rivera	...	Pimp
Rod Roeser	...	Albuquerque Executive
Lynne Marie Stewart	...	Bill's Secretary
Nikita Ager	...	Apple Receptionist
Brian Gattas	...	Adamson
Paul Popowich	...	Jones
Doug Cox	...	Job Applicant
Michael Francis Clarke	...	IBM Executive #1
Michael Bryan French	...	IBM Executive #2
Gerald McCullouch	...	Rod Brock
Tammy Brady Conrad	...	Young Skating Woman (as Brady Conrad)
Allan Royal	...	John Sculley
Bodhi Elfman	...	John Gilmore (as Bodhi Pine Elfman)
Holly Lewis	...	Xerox Project Manager
Robert Daniel Phelps	...	Xerox Executive
Brian Lester	...	Charles Simonyi
Michael Chieffo	...	Airline Clerk #1
Wanda Christine	...	Airline Clerk #2 (as Wandachristine)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Mac Designer
Brooke Radding	...	Little Lisa
Kitty Swink	...	Woman
Alexander Enberg	...	Photographer
Cardella Di Milo	...	Ella Fitzgerald (as Cardella Demillo)
Robert Pierce	...	Jazz Band Player #1
Sherman Ferguson	...	Jazz Band Player #2
Louie Spears	...	Jazz Band Player #3
Louis Taylor	...	Jazz Band Player #4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Grady Hutt	...	(unconfirmed)
Michael Laren	...	IBM singer
Dean Chambers	...	Corporate Execuitive (uncredited)
Diane Robin	...	Irate Woman (uncredited)
Nicholas Wilde	...	Xerox Designer (uncredited)

Directed by
Martyn Burke

Writing credits (WGA)
Paul Freiberger		(book "Fire in the Valley") and
Michael Swaine		(book "Fire in the Valley")
Martyn Burke		(written by)

Produced by
Joseph Dougherty	....	co-executive producer
Steven Haft	....	executive producer
Nick Lombardo	....	executive producer
Leanne Moore	....	producer

Original Music by
Frank Fitzpatrick

Cinematography by
Ousama Rawi

Film Editing by
Richard Halsey

Casting by
Lisa Freiberger

Production Design by
Jeff Ginn

Art Direction by
Brandt Gordon

Costume Design by
May Routh

Makeup Department
Selina Jayne	....	makeup department head
Timothy A. Miguel	....	makeup artist
Tracy Warbin	....	makeup artist: Mr. Wyle

Production Management
Bryan Gawron	....	post-production supervisor
Sue Jennings	....	production supervisor
Leanne Moore	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Aaron Barsky	....	first assistant director
Christina Fong	....	second assistant director
Basil Grillo	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Ellis J. Barbacoff	....	assistant property master
Tony Bonaventura	....	property master
Joshua Foster	....	set dresser
David Pirinelli	....	lead man
Gaston Wurth	....	set dresser
Abigail Sheiner	....	art department coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stephen Halbert	....	sound
Vince Nicastro	....	foley artist
Phillip Seretti	....	sound re-recording mixer
Phillip Seretti	....	sound supervisor
Janja Vujovich	....	post-production sound coordinator

Visual Effects by
Sam Nicholson	....	visual effects supervisor
Victor Scalise	....	visual effects editor
Jaison Stritch	....	3D visual effects supervisor
Scott Dougherty	....	digital effects producer: Cinesite (uncredited)
Tiffany Smith	....	visual effects production coordinator: Cinesite (uncredited)

Stunts
Brian Avery	....	stunts
Rick Avery	....	stunts
Jacob Chambers	....	stunt double
Laura Lee Connery	....	stunts
Chris Howell	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Julian de la Pena	....	electrician
Jack M. Guberman	....	best boy electric
Sergio Gutierrez	....	dolly grip (as Sergio 'Ponch' Gutierrez)
Jennifer Ann Henry	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Doug Hyun	....	still photographer
Ross Judd	....	camera operator
Jeff Levy	....	gaffer
Ernesto Pérez	....	best boy grip
Gary Tachell	....	first assistant camera
Randy Tambling	....	key grip
R. Gern Trowbridge	....	best boy electric
R. Gern Trowbridge	....	rigging chief lighting technician

Editorial Department
Debra Light	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ted Blaisdell	....	score mixer
Tanya Noel Hill	....	music editor
David Tobocman	....	music producer

Transportation Department
Tony Barattini	....	driver: set dress
J. Armin Garza II	....	driver: camera car
Geno Hart	....	transportation coordinator
Steve Larson	....	transportation dispatcher
Hardy Ophuls	....	picture car coordinator
John Pellegrino	....	driver

Other crew
Maxine Bergen	....	script supervisor
Mark Bronson	....	post-production accountant
John C. Bush	....	on-set playback
David A. Foster	....	location manager
Michael J. Fowler	....	computer playback operator
Paul Harrison	....	key assistant location manager
Anna E. Hayward	....	set production assistant
Randy McKenney	....	stand-in
Kyle Oliver	....	assistant location manager
Nadia Paine	....	assistant: Mr. Lombardo
Patti Small	....	production accountant
Mark Trapenberg	....	set production assistant
Jen Wall	....	production coordinator
Gordon Weiske	....	assistant to director
Lang Yee	....	assistant accountant
Stephen Bridgewater	....	drama coach (uncredited)
Jack E. Herman	....	extras set coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Haft Entertainment
• St. Nick Productions
• Turner Network Television (TNT)

Distributors

• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Turner Network Television (TNT)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Argentina) (all media)

Other Companies

• Bill Dance Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:6 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Royce Hall - 340 Royce Drive, UCLA, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Haft Entertainment

Trivia:

At the 1999 Macworld conference, shortly after the premiere of this TV movie, the audience was stunned to learn that the introductory comments were made not by Steve Jobs, but by Noah Wyle, reprising his role in this movie. The real Jobs emerged and traded jokes with Wyle.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the opening scene where they are filming the 1984 Macintosh commercial, Ridley Scott calls the actress who throws the hammer Michelle. Her real life name is Anya Major.

Quotes:

Bill Gates: There may be a few... similarities.
Steve Jobs: Similarities? Similarities? Try theft.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Soundtrack:

Get Down Tonight

Two extraordinary individuals help create modern computing

A flawed but intriguing character study of two of the most extraordinary individuals of our modern technological era.

The movie is historically inaccurate. Nevertheless, it manages to capture the essence of how much of modern computing came to be: the cluelessness of Xerox about what its own computer scientists were doing; Steve Jobs' artistic vision at Apple; and Bill Gates' ruthless business practices at Microsoft. And you will be fascinated by how these men got where they are today.

The movie isn't very kind to either Jobs or Gates, emphasizing their negative qualities. Steve Jobs is presented as a visionary, but also as a slavedriver and someone who refuses to accept that he's the illegitimate father of a young girl.

Gates is portrayed in an even less flattering way--as some kind of outright sociopath who is driven to destroy all those who try to do business with him. Still, as long as you recognize that the portrayals are negatively slanted, you will be rewarded by witnessing the interplay among the famous triangle: Adele Goldberg (not explicitly named in the movie), the leader of Xerox's research team; Steve Jobs, who ripped her off and incorporated those technologies in the new Macintosh; and Bill Gates, who ripped off Jobs and incorporated those technologies in the newer Windows product.

The movie does suffer from several historical inaccuracies. I believe that at least some of those inaccuracies were deliberate--attempts to oversimplify the historical record in order to shorten the length of the movie. For example, the movie makes it appear that Apple's first attempt at a computer with a modern graphical user interface--the Lisa--was a tremendous success, when in fact it was a commercial failure. But portraying it as a success made it simpler to explain why Bill Gates got interested in dealing with Apple at that time.

While the movie is long, it would have been even better as a two-day or three-day miniseries. That would have enabled some of the historical record to be explored at greater depth, eliminating the need for this deliberate vast oversimplification.