Special When Lit is a feature length

Feature length

Feature length is motion picture terminology referring to the length of a feature film. According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a feature length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes to be eligible for an Academy Award.The term may also...

 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 about pinball

Pinball

Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...

 written and directed by Brett Sullivan

Brett Sullivan

Brett Sullivan is a London based Australian filmmaker. Born in Sydney, Australia, 1971, he was one of the early adopters of computer graphics, writing a book at age 19, 'Desktop Video' and subsequently lecturing on emerging technologies at NSW University, Sydney University and The Australian Film...

..The film is produced by Steam Motion and Sound.

Production

Filming took place from mid 2006 to 2008 in several trips to the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Post production was completed at Steam Motion and Sound in London during 2008 and 2009.

Synopsis

The pinball industry made more money that did the American film industry during the 1950s through the 1970s. Special When Lit explores the former pop icon of the pinball machine, and through interviews with fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe, traces pinball's history through to the present day.

Recognition

Eye for Film

Eye For Film

Eye For Film is an online film magazine based in the United Kingdom. It launched in August 2006 and has been growing ever since. It is updated with new content on a daily basis.-Features:...

wrote "It's not the sort of subject that you'd think would suit a documentary, but it works surprisingly well." It "offers fascinating insights and makes for an enjoyable watch. Special When Lit is reminiscent of that other great documentary Spellbound. Both draw the audience into a world of obsession, impress upon you the level of devotion, and charm you with the people in that world"

Tallahassee Democrat

Tallahassee Democrat

The Tallahassee Democrat is a daily broadsheet newspaper. It covers the area centered around Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida, as well as adjacent Gadsden County, Jefferson County, and Wakulla County...

wrote that the film was a "surprisingly compelling documentary".

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

called the film a "significant flick in a lineup that runs the gamut from light to heavy religious to political".

Raindance Film Festival

Raindance Film Festival

Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...

 director Elliot Grove wrote that the documentary was "masterfully shot" and that its director, Brett Sullivan, was able to bring out a certain nostalgia in his film that was both intriguing and fascinating, with its interviews like "an emotional and sensitive area, with pinball’s fans describing of the game like a relationship, their faces lighting up as if they were recounting their first kiss." He found the winning film to be "encapsulating and absorbing."

The Montana Kaimin

Montana Kaimin

The Montana Kaimin is the University of Montana's student-run independent newspaper located in Missoula, Mont. The daily paper is printed four times a week, Tuesday through Friday, with special editions printed occasionally. The current editor-in-chief is Roman Stubbs...

 said wrote "With a gripping intro, the film draws you in and keeps your attention with its larger-than-life characters."

Awards and nominations

• 2009, Won Best Feature Documentary at Los Angeles United Film Festival
• 2009, Nominated for Best Documentary at Raindance Film Festival
  Raindance Film Festival
  Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
  
  
• 2009, Nominated for Best Documentary at Tallahassee Film Festival
• 2010, Won Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at London United Film Festival

Release and distribution

First premiered in October 2009 at London's Raindance Film Festival

Raindance Film Festival

Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...

 where is was nominated for Best Documentary.
Subsequent festivals included: Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival began as a cooperative effort between the Southern Film Alliance and a small group of Hot Springs volunteers in 1992. Academy Award nominated films were shown free of charge to the public in the Historic District of Hot Springs...

, Atlanta Docufest, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Calgary International Film Festival

Calgary International Film Festival

The Calgary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for ten days in late September and early October...

, Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival

Buffalo Niagara Film Festival

The Buffalo Niagara Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Buffalo, New York which showcases over 35 films annually.The inaugural festival was held March 26-21, 2007...

, Bronx International Film Festival, Indianapolis International Film Festival

Indianapolis International Film Festival

-Mission & General Information:Founded in 2004, the Indianapolis International Film Festival seeks to create a shared experience by championing films that entertain, challenge and expand perspectives in Indianapolis and beyond...

, Da Vinci Film Festival, Tallahassee Film Festival, Los Angeles United Film Festival, USA Film Festival

USA Film Festival

-History:Founded in 1971, the USA Film Festival has presented the world, national and regional premieres of thousands of studio and independent feature films and short experimental, animated, documentary and dramatic films....

, and Wisconsin Film Festival

Wisconsin Film Festival

The Wisconsin Film Festival is an annual film festival, founded in 1999. The five-day long festival is held every April in Madison, Wisconsin.The Festival presents a broad range of independent American and world cinema , restorations and revivals, and locally made pictures from Wisconsin filmmakers...

.

The film was picked up by PBS International Distribution for worldwide sales outside the United States. The film was released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 and Bluray in January 2011. The Documentary Channel

Documentary Channel

Documentary is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , the National Film Board of Canada and four other independent producers...

 in the USA premiered Special When Lit May 21, 2011. The PBS Channel in the UK premiered Special When Lit Nov 5, 2011.

Interviewees

• Roger Sharpe
• Rick Stetta
• Sam Harvey
• Steve Epstein
• Gary Stern

• Lyman Sheats Jr.
• Tim Arnold
• Josh Kaplan
• John Broughton
• Pat Lawlor

• Steve Ritchie
• Steve Kordek
• Steve Keeler
• Raphael Lankar
• Koi Morris

External links

• Special When Lit at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  
• Steam Motion and Sound Production Company