# Lighting up the Silver Screen **Source:** Pinball News Website **Type:** article **Published:** 2009-09-16 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/specialwhenlit.html --- ## Analysis Special When Lit, a 97-minute documentary about pinball's rise, fall, and resurgence, premiered at the Raindance Film Festival in October 2009. Created by Brett Sullivan, Clayton Jacobsen, and Emily Rickard, the film was shot over three years and features interviews with designers, collectors, competitors, and industry figures exploring how a mainstream pop icon faded and a dedicated subculture kept it alive. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Special When Lit premiered at Raindance Film Festival (30 Sept - 11 Oct 2009) and was nominated for Best Documentary award — _Article states premiere date and Raindance nomination directly_ - [HIGH] The documentary was shot over more than three years with over 250 hours of material — _Article explicitly states '3 years of shooting' and '250 hours of material'_ - [HIGH] Brett Sullivan and Clayton Jacobsen became pinball collectors during production, with Sullivan collecting Attack From Mars and World Cup Soccer, Jacobsen owning Addams Family, Medieval Madness, and Judge Dredd — _Article details personal machine collections acquired during project_ - [HIGH] The documentary was designed to appeal to general audiences who remember pinball's popularity, not just existing fans — _Article quotes: 'documentary aimed not at the fans themselves, but at anyone who ever dropped a coin in the slot'_ - [HIGH] Steve Ritchie interview was pivotal in crystallizing the documentary's direction as a story of rise and fall of a pop icon — _Article states 'eventual direction of the project crystallised following the interview they shot with game designer Steve Ritchie'_ ### Notable Quotes > "This is the story of rise and fall of a pop icon. It's surprising nobody has told it before." > — **Brett Sullivan (Director)**, N/A > _Core thesis of the documentary, explaining why the filmmakers chose to tell this story_ > "documentary aimed not at the fans themselves, but at anyone who ever dropped a coin in the slot and remembers how popular pinball used to be" > — **Article narrator (describing filmmakers' intent)**, N/A > _Clarifies the target audience and broader cultural mission of the film_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Special When Lit | product | 97-minute documentary about pinball's rise and fall, premiered at Raindance Film Festival 2009 | | Brett Sullivan | person | Director, Producer, and original music composer for Special When Lit; became pinball collector during production | | Clayton Jacobsen | person | Producer of Special When Lit; pinball collector (Addams Family, Medieval Madness, Judge Dredd) | | Emily Rickard | person | Line Producer of Special When Lit | | Steam Motion & Sound | company | Post-production house in London's Soho that created Special When Lit documentary | | Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball game designer whose interview pivoted the documentary's direction | | Raindance Film Festival | event | Film festival in London (30 Sept - 11 Oct 2009) where Special When Lit premiered and was nominated for Best Documentary | | UK Pinball Show | event | UK pinball event in Birmingham that the filmmakers attended to research pinball culture | | Pinball News | organization | Online pinball media outlet that visited Steam offices for preview and attended same events as documentary crew | | The Getaway | game | Pinball machine whose playfield artwork was used in the documentary's title sequence 3D montage; also one of four machines at Steam office | | Attack From Mars | game | Pinball machine in Brett Sullivan's personal collection | | World Cup Soccer | game | Pinball machine in Brett Sullivan's personal collection | | The Addams Family | game | Pinball machine in Clayton Jacobsen's personal collection | | Medieval Madness | game | Pinball machine in Clayton Jacobsen's personal collection | | Judge Dredd | game | Pinball machine in Clayton Jacobsen's personal collection | | Scared Stiff | game | Pinball machine at Steam office | | Terminator 2 | game | Pinball machine at Steam office | | Twilight Zone | game | Pinball machine at Steam office | | Dan Rather | person | News anchor featured in prime-time news report about pinball that opens the documentary | ### Topics - **Primary:** Documentary filmmaking about pinball culture, Pinball's historical decline and cultural resurgence, Pinball community, collectors, and competitors - **Secondary:** Film festival distribution and release strategy, Production process and technical details ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Article is celebratory of the documentary's achievement, production quality, and cultural significance. Filmmakers' passion for pinball is evident. Positive framing of the film's premiere and broader ambitions. No criticism or negative sentiment present. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Filmmakers became active participants in pinball community (attending shows, acquiring machines) rather than distant observers, indicating deep integration with the scene (confidence: high) — Article states Brett and Clayton became 'not only more curious about pinball's demise, but also turned into a fan and a collector' with documented personal machine collections - **[community_signal]** Documentary production attracted significant cooperation from pinball community members including legendary designer Steve Ritchie and numerous collectors, competitors, and industry figures willing to be interviewed (confidence: high) — Article describes extensive interviews with 'designers, collectors, competitors and industry insiders' across 'countless pinball shows and tournaments' - **[historical_signal]** Special When Lit frames pinball as a 'pop icon' story of rise and fall, positioning it as culturally significant enough to warrant feature film treatment and appealing to mainstream audiences beyond fandom (confidence: high) — Brett Sullivan quote: 'This is the story of rise and fall of a pop icon. It's surprising nobody has told it before.' --- ## Transcript Date: 16th September 2009 After more than three years of shooting, editing and post production, a new documentary about the pinball community is about to receive its theatrical premiere. Special When Lit is the work of Brett Sullivan, Clayton Jacobsen and Emily Rickard from post-production house Steam Motion & Sound who visited countless pinball shows and tournaments to get a true feel for the way collectors, competitors and industry insiders feel about pinball. Some of the faces of Special When Lit After more than a year of editing and post-production, the 97 minute documentary will premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London which runs from the 30th September through to the 11th October. It has been nominated for the Best Documentary award. Pinball News visited the Steam offices in London's Soho for a sneak preview of excerpts from the movie and to talk with Clayton and Brett about its making. The idea came about when the trio were looking for a longer-form project to complement their regular work creating 30 second commercial spots for TV and cinema. One of their early ideas was a drama about a washed-up pinball player, so in order to know more about their lead character they joined the UK's pinball scene and visited the UK Pinball Show in Birmingham. What they found lead them in a different direction as they discovered a sub-culture keeping the pinball dream alive. But what had happened to pinball? Where had the machines which were once so ubiquitous disappeared to? Who were the people still enjoying and promoting it? This was to become their subject matter for a documentary aimed not at the fans themselves, but at anyone who ever dropped a coin in the slot and remembers how popular pinball used to be. The eventual direction of the project crystalised following the interview they shot with game designer Steve Ritchie. "This is the story of rise and fall of a pop icon" is how Brett described the movie. "It's surprising nobody has told it before". As an indicator of pinball's former mainstream position in popular culture, the documentary opens with a prime-time news report introduced by Chris Ancarrow Dan Rather all about pinball. This launches into the title sequence which takes elements from the artwork of popular games and turns them into an excellent three-dimensional montage, leading to the title of the film. (In case you were wondering, it's a Getaway playfield) The title may seem an obvious choice for pinball fans, but its secondary meaning illustrates the way the interviewees came alive and "lit up" when talking about how special pinball was to them. The movie mixes numerous interviews shot specially for the documentary with selected archive footage to illustrate how pinball's fortunes have risen and fallen over the years. There is no commentary track. The entire story is told by the interviewees and supported by the library material. The cast list is not confined to the usual suspects from the industry. There are many interviews with the die-hard fans who keep the dream alive through their collections of machines, by visiting pinball shows and by playing in tournaments. Josh Kaplan and Koi Brian Morris Raphael Lankar Sam Harvey Brett is the Director, Producer and created all the movie's original music. Before getting involved in the pinball scene he was very much a video game fan rather than a pinball one. As he, Clayton (Producer) and Emily (Line Producer) travelled the world - often turning up at the same events as Pinball News - he became not only more curious about pinball's demise, but also turned into a fan and a collector. The Steam office now has four machines set up; The Getaway, Scared Stiff, Terminator 2 and Twilight Zone, while both Brett and Clayton have pinball machines at home. Brett has an Attack From Mars and a World Cup Soccer while Clayton owns The Addams Family, Medieval Madness and Judge Dredd. Just about the whole team at Steam worked on the movie alongside their regular commercials work. All the shooting and post-production was done in high definition and edited in Final Cut Pro. In all, over 250 hours of material was shot for the documentary. Special When lit will get it's initial screening on Friday 9th October 2009 at 4:30pm at the Apollo Cinema, 19 Lower Regent Street, London SW1Y 4LR. The initial tickets all sold out within a couple of days, so Clayton & Brett are trying to move the screening to a larger auditorium. Following its Raindance premiere, the movie will then be shown at various film festivals on the international circuit to gain exposure and try to get a distribution or broadcast deal. In due course, it is expected to be released on DVD/Blu-Ray although there is no timescale for that at present, so the film festivals are the place to catch it for the immediate future. Further details of the movie can be found on the SpecialWhenLitMovie.com site and through the team's Facebook page. Back to the News page Back to the front page _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ff2c37df-2b64-4632-a415-913f0e930270*