We are excited to announce that we have officially started production on a documentary film about the Linotype typecasting machine.
My interest in the Linotype started about six years ago when I was a graphic design student at university. For my senior thesis project, I re-established a letterpress printing area for the graphic design department. While learning about letterpress from every source possible, I came across a local printer that still does letterpress printing (mainly die cutting and scoring for the trade). I visited his shop and he showed me the Linotype and how it worked. I was instantly hooked. I just HAD to know more about this amazing machine.
I started doing research about the Linotype and found very little out there. Fairly soon after seeing the Linotype for the first time, I knew that I needed to make a film about it someday. After some plans in my life changed, I knew that the time to make the film is now and so I am going forward working with two of my best friends and talented filmmakers.
My goal is to make a documentary film worthy of the machine. I feel that Ottmar Mergenthaler was a true mechanical genius that never lived long enough to see the massive impact of his invention. I hope to tell his story along with the stories of the people who still own and love these machines today. I want to know why they still are trying to keep the Linotype alive and what motivates them. The film will be more than just a “fact film” about how the machine works, but rather a document to the machine and the lives of the people involved with the machine.
We have just launched a 30 day Kickstarter fundraising campaign to fund the film. We are hoping to raise $8,000 to get us going.The money we are raising on Kickstarter is specifically for acquiring the pieces of the story. This includes travel expenses, archival footage, music and a little food on the road. There are at least five more shooting trips planned and our goal is to finish the film by fall of 2011.
via Linotype: The Film.
Related articles
- A movie about Linotype (kottke.org)
- Linotype: The Film (adafruit.com)
- Linotype: The Film (boingboing.net)
