Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Ep 97: The Man Who Saved The Game with Roger Sharpe

LoserKid Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 17m·analyzed·Dec 1, 2022
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Roger Sharpe discusses creation of biographical film 'Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game' as collaborative love story.

Summary

Roger Sharpe, legendary pinball historian and industry advocate, discusses the creation of 'Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game,' a narrative feature film (not a documentary) about his life and influence on pinball. The film, directed by Meredith and Austin Bragg and backed by the Moving Picture Institute, frames Sharpe's story as a love story centered on his relationship with his wife Ellen, rather than a pinball-focused narrative. Sharpe details his deep collaboration with the filmmakers on casting, script authenticity, machine selection, and the film's balance between appealing to both general audiences and the pinball community.

Key Claims

  • The movie 'Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game' is a narrative feature film with actors, not a documentary

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe explicitly stated: 'it's not a documentary. It's actually a movie with, you know, with actors and people portraying me or portraying Ellen and our son, Seth.'

  • Roger Sharpe was approached in February 2020 by filmmakers Meredith and Austin Bragg to make the film

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'back in February of 2020, I was approached by a rather left field email from Meredith and Austin Bragg, who were filmmakers.'

  • Roger Sharpe and Ellen recently celebrated their 44th anniversary and have been together 49 years

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'Ellen and I have just celebrated our 44th anniversary, 49 years together.'

  • Roger Sharpe finished fourth in a recent tournament and knocked out both Josh and Zach Sharp

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'I did fairly well some months back my first tournament where I actually finished fourth and knocked out both Josh and Zach Sharp in the process'

  • Every pinball machine featured in the film was handpicked by Roger Sharpe

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'Every machine that is in there or similar interjection that movie are machines that were handpicked by me to be in there'

  • Roger Sharpe has cassette tapes from interviews with Williams, Gottlieb, and others dating back 40+ years

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'he said you should transfer that into new media. So I wanted, number one, testing it here on literally the cassette recorder that I did the interviews on years ago' and 'I have six six-foot high file cabinets of stuff.'

  • The Moving Picture Institute backed the film project

    high confidence · Roger Sharpe: 'NPI, the Moving Picture Institute, that was backing this project, believed enough in Meredith and Austin Bragg to say, sure.'

  • Actor Dennis portrays Roger Sharpe in the film and is also known for 'Better Call Saul'

Notable Quotes

  • “Ellen and I have just celebrated our 44th anniversary, 49 years together. And she still remains somewhat understanding of the person that she has as being, I won't call her better half, but at least somebody that's here with her.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Reflects on his long marriage and Ellen's role in supporting his pinball career; establishes personal foundation for the film's central love story theme.

  • “I will say humbly, there's no freaking way that either of my sons could match me. [as a 25-year-old playing pinball]”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Competitive humor showing his confidence in his reflexes and skills despite his current age and physical limitations; demonstrates his personality that the filmmakers needed to capture.

  • “It is, I think everyone should have if you're in the hobby, you're going to love this movie.”

    Josh Roop @ N/A — Host endorsement of the film, indicating strong reception from the pinball community and suggesting broader appeal within the hobby.

  • “There's one room in this house that is for me. Okay? And it wound up being Josh's old bedroom that became her sanctuary. No, there can't be any games in here.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Humorous illustration of Ellen's boundary-setting within a pinball-filled home; demonstrates the couple dynamics that the film captures and likely appealed to audiences.

  • “People think that this is a pinball movie. And oh my god, they're not doing an overhead with a rig and people are not streaming pinball non-stop for an hour and a half.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Reveals the filmmakers' strategic concern about audience expectations; explains why they positioned it as a love story rather than a pinball-focused documentary.

  • “Every machine that is in that movie are machines that were handpicked by me to be in that movie specifically... I can tell you why those were important and critical and why it was appropriate for them to be where they were.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Demonstrates Sharpe's meticulous involvement in the film's production and his commitment to authenticity in historical representation.

Entities

Roger SharpepersonEllen SharpepersonJosh SharpepersonZach SharpepersonMatt Scott LarsonpersonJosh Roopperson

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Official discussion and promotion of 'Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game,' a narrative feature film about Roger Sharpe's life and influence on pinball, directed by Meredith and Austin Bragg and backed by the Moving Picture Institute.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'back in February of 2020, I was approached by a rather left field email from Meredith and Austin Bragg... NPI, the Moving Picture Institute, that was backing this project'

  • ?

    content_signal: Loser Kid Pinball Podcast (Episode 97) dedicated significant airtime to discussion of the Sharpe film with Roger Sharpe as guest, indicating strong community interest in the project.

    high · Full episode devoted to film discussion; Josh Roop states 'I've watched this movie, watched it a couple times while I had the opportunity and I can't wait to own this movie.'

  • ?

    historical_signal: Roger Sharpe has initiated digitization of historical cassette tape interviews spanning 40+ years with pinball industry figures (Williams, Gottlieb, etc.), preserved in six-foot high filing cabinets; tapes converted to digital CDs.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'I have six six-foot high file cabinets of stuff... I have that on tape... Harry Williams voice... Alvin Gottlieb... Sam Stern... I have that on tape. So the things that I've always told my sons about, yeah, right. It's just dad. He's embellishing. No, God darn it. It really did happen'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: The filmmakers adopted a strategy of balancing narrative authenticity with cinematic storytelling, using word-for-word dialogue from Sharpe in some scenes while taking deliberate liberties in others, with Sharpe serving as collaborator on script, casting, wardrobe, and machine selection.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'I was very much deeply involved... I wanted it to be right and wanted it to be authentic... Every machine that is in that movie are machines that were handpicked by me'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.232

0:00
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. We are on episode 97. I am Josh Roop. With me, my co-captain as always. Scott Larson. And Scott, it's getting Christmas time, and I know you've been eyeballing some of those sweet pinball machines. You thinking about getting anything? You know what?
0:24
We're doing a major renovation on the house, and I still have my Guardians of the Galaxy in a box in the garage because I haven't been able to open it up.
0:33
If I had space and I weren't doing a renovation on the house, you know what? Get in the waiting queue for the Mandalorian topper. If you're a big fan of that game, it's a great accessory to put on there. Yes. And flipping out pinball, Zach and Nicole, many they just got back from vacation, and they got quite the stack of emails they're going through, but they have quite the stock in right now. So you know you want that Christmas present. Their shipping is insanely fast. I noticed one of their customers had posted last week that they had ordered on a Monday and had it by – it was like Wednesday afternoon. It was insane. So if you want that pinball machine, if you want those accessories, go check Flippin' Out. They are great.
1:18
I'm going to move on to our guest. Well, okay, but did you bring up Zach's epic mustache? Zach's – oh, my goodness. Yes. You know what? There's only one man in pinball that can pull off a sweet mustache, and it's not Zach because he looks like an 80s porn star when he tried to do it.
1:38

high confidence · Roger Sharpe and Meredith discussing the actress comment: 'if you thought he was good in this, you should see him in Better Call Saul.'

  • “I'd like to believe that at some point in time... it was all because of my son Josh that um he said you know you have the tapes of the interviews from the book.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Reveals the origin of the cassette tape digitization project that connects to the film; shows family involvement in preserving pinball history.

  • “Dennis was magnificent... his first comment when we were on the computer, face-to-face, he said, you know, some of the questions that are asked of you, my God, because he had watched, I guess, some of my talks at some of the pinball shows.”

    Roger Sharpe @ N/A — Explains the casting process and actor preparation; demonstrates the filmmakers' commitment to authenticity through research.

    • Meredith Bragg
    person
    Austin Braggperson
    Dennis Quaidperson
    Mikeperson
    Crystalperson
    Nate Shiversperson
    Flip N Out Pinballcompany
    The Moving Picture Instituteorganization
    Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Gameproduct
    Loser Kid Pinball Podcastorganization
    Guardians of the Galaxygame
    Star Wars: The Mandaloriangame
    Addams Familygame
    Medieval Madnessgame
    Eldoradogame
    Bankshotgame
    Pinball Expoevent
    Hamptons Film Festivalevent
  • ~

    sentiment_shift: The pinball community has responded positively to the film's release, with podcast hosts, Sharpe's family members, and community members praising its emotional impact, authenticity, and appeal to both casual and dedicated audiences.

    high · Josh Roop: 'I've watched this movie, watched it a couple times while I had the opportunity and I can't wait to own this movie... It is, I think everyone should have if you're in the hobby, you're going to love this movie.'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Roger Sharpe served as executive producer and collaborator on the film alongside directors Meredith and Austin Bragg; worked directly with actors Dennis Quaid and Mike on authenticity and characterization.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'I know that I'm listed as an executive producer, but I'd like to think that I was also somewhat of a collaborator as well in there... in terms of the script and how we kind of weaved everything together'

  • ?

    event_signal: The film premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival in Sag Harbor, Long Island, with a second screening and Q&A where attendees approached Sharpe to praise his performance.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'this woman comes out, comes over to me, and she just says, you were just incredible in the movie... And it was Meredith who said, if you thought he was good in this, you should see him in Better Call Saul.'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Roger Sharpe recently competed in a pinball tournament and finished fourth, defeating both of his sons (Josh and Zach Sharpe) despite physical limitations including ruptured discs.

    high · Roger Sharpe: 'I did fairly well some months back my first tournament where I actually finished fourth and knocked out both Josh and Zach Sharp in the process'

  • ?

    business_signal: Flip N Out Pinball reported strong inventory and fast shipping capabilities post-vacation; customer testimonial noted Monday-to-Wednesday delivery turnaround.

    high · Josh Roop: 'I noticed one of their customers had posted last week that they had ordered on a Monday and had it by Wednesday afternoon. It was insane.'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: The film includes handpicked pinball machines with historical significance (Eldorado, Bankshot) and era-appropriate machines selected by Roger Sharpe for narrative authenticity.

    medium · Roger Sharpe: 'Every machine that is in that movie are machines that were handpicked by me to be in that movie specifically... Eldorado and Bankshot, people know the legend of that. That's fine. But there are other things that are in there where I can tell you why those were important'

    • Okay, I was thinking it was channeling Magnum PI because I'm keeping it family friendly. But if there's anybody in pinball that I would grow a mustache to emulate, it is our guest today. Yes, and he needs no introduction. If you are, unless you're new to pinball in the last two minutes, I hope you have at least heard the story about Roger Sharp and the infamous shot. We interviewed you, Roger, about two years ago, I think, during the pandemic. And you led us through the whole process of actually getting up to that, which was fascinating.
    2:19
    But first off, welcome to the show. thank you so much for for coming and uh you're you're always great to come on the show and we really appreciate you uh slumming it with us so no thank you i i i continue to joke that you know for those who are listening if they're disappointed it's not josh or zach it's their dad you know what can i do what can i say but uh okay but i i do have a question though yes who would win in a three-way match between a 25-year-old Roger, a 25-year-old Josh, and a 25-year-old Zach? Wow, great question. What era games?
    3:02
    Oh, wow. No, because, you know, the big thing, and I don't want to get too sidetracked or too long-winded. I'm trying to get better with that, but I think the problem that I've had recently as I've gotten back into competition and I know I did fairly well some months back my first tournament where I actually finished fourth and knocked out both Josh and Zach in the process I don't I don't know the rules of the games but if what we're talking about just the physicality and the ability to still have the kind of reflexes and concentration than I had at 25 without the ruptured discs. I will say humbly, there's no freaking way that either of my sons could match me. Yes. Love it. Not anything. That's the correct answer. That's what I wanted to hear. That is awesome. I've had situations where I've been on a morning news show in Indianapolis where they had a Mandalorian, and I remember talking to Zach saying, So I just go up the middle. What am I supposed to do here? Shoot of the middle. On camera. And I wound up putting up the high score while we were waiting for commercial break. And I just turned to him. I said, just imagine how I was 50 years ago. If I could still do this kind of stuff infrequently. So that's my answer. Okay. All right. That is the correct answer. That is great. Well, speaking of 50 years ago, you kind of had a little project come out this last couple months, and it's kind of – I think it's taken the pinball industry and hobby by storm. It's really been a wonderful movie. How did this even happen? Did you get approached? Did you approach someone? Well, okay, Josh, first tell our listeners, if they haven't heard of the movie, what is this movie we're talking about? Okay, sorry. The movie we're talking about is Pinball, the man who saved the game. it's a biopic based upon roger sharp's life and his influence on pinball and the infamous court hearing i'm not going to say the shot because it's really not the shot it's more about the court hearing and uh it's wonderful i've watched this movie i watched it watched it a couple times while i had the opportunity and i can't wait to own this movie it is i think everyone should have if you're in the hobby you're going to love this movie well thank you I think the part that surprised everybody, just I'll say this as a preface, is that it's not a documentary. It's actually a movie with, you know, with actors and people portraying me or portraying Ellen and our son, Seth. So, you know, I think that that's first and foremost. And to answer the question, really back in February of 2020, I was approached in a rather left field email from Meredith and Austin Bragg, who were filmmakers. They had just done an award winning short called A Piece of Cake, which I highly recommend. If anybody has, I think it's like 10 minutes or eight minutes, watch it because it is marvelous and wonderful and funny. but they reached out to ask if anybody had ever done a movie about me. And it was like, well, yeah, I mean, I've been in a lot of documentaries and new stuff, and it was, no, no, no, actually about you. And it was just like, huh, who cares? No, and Josh, you just mentioned that you've seen the movie, so you kind of know that the setup for the beginning of the movie effectively is that condensation or consolidation of that conversation that we had initially, which was, okay, fine, and that's how we went. They had this idea. They had done some digging, looking at a project, thought maybe it would be a short, maybe it would be a documentary, did not think of it initially as being a feature, and lo and behold, after some period of time, we were talking. NPI, the Moving Picture Institute, that was backing this project, believed enough in Meredith and Austin Bragg to say, sure. And they reached out to me and we communicated and reached an agreement. And I was still of the mindset that, yeah, this is never going to happen. This is kind of like a flight of fancy, but I'll play along with it. I mean, we're in the midst of COVID. What am I doing here? Other than just kind of waiting things out as, you know, spring became summer of 20 and going through a couple of script treatments and story and plot lines and what we wanted to do and what I was comfortable with versus not comfortable with and on and on and on. So that's really how the process started. It was kind of like something totally from left field that I had never envisioned or expected. And truthfully, was somewhat humbled by the audacity of Meredith and Austin to think that there was really a story to be told in terms of my life. And then my willingness to kind of allow some things to kind of be dealt with in a way that made the movie wonderful. But I think of it truly as being a testament to Ellen. You know, the idea of a single mother back in the early 70s who knew what she wanted was, you know, her mindset. You know, the whole idea of not just Me Too movements that we're dealing with, you know, more recently, but just the strength and fortitude of this woman. And I think that that's really the part that I stand back and I admire the most. And it puts a smile on my face because Ellie and I have just celebrated our 44th anniversary, 49 years together. And she still remains somewhat understanding of the person that she has as being, I won't call her better half, but at least somebody that's here with her. Partner in crime. Partner in crime is probably good, although she has been complaining today. The house is just a shambles. We've got to do something. What? there's pinball in every room. What's wrong with that? Hey, can, can I have you talk to my wife? Because there's a lot of rooms upstairs, but I, right now I have six games in the garage and she thinks I need to par it down. I think I need to expand and we don't need kids bedrooms. They're unnecessary. I understand. In fact, it's funny, Scott, when you say that, when finally both boys wound up leaving,
    10:04
    Ellen's comment was, there has to be one room in this house that is for me. Okay? And it wound up being Josh's old bedroom that became her sanctuary. No, there can't be any games in here. There can't be anything. I have my special lighting. She had somebody come in, redid the entire room, and that is her sanctuary. So one room out of our house, and garage and basement. The rest of it is all mine. Any pinball machines in the bathrooms? Not yet. Other than some toy ones. You could get a Varkon. That's straight up and down. Well, you could. Yes, you're right. Versus my Azrak Hamway kind of little toy ones and my Papa pinballs. Yeah.
    10:52
    Well, I got to say, I think that's the part I loved most about the movie was the relationship between you and Ellen. and coupling that so well. I don't know you guys personally. I haven't spent a bunch of time with you, but after watching this movie, I felt like I got to know you guys personally.
    11:10
    And I even sat down with Zach and Josh after Expo, and we talked about it, and they said it was pretty spot on. They felt like they did a couple liberties. They felt like, but for the most part, what you're seeing on the screen was a fairly accurate assessment of the relationship. And so it's something I think, speaking to your 49 years, I think a lot of people aspire to that, and it's amazing. And it's something to look forward to. As a man that's been married for 15, it gives me hope. It's just awesome. I love this movie. I have so many questions about it, but I'm like, I don't want to ruin anything for Scott, like how he made the shot at the end. Well, I do know the end at least.
    11:59
    Now, when your approach was something like this, it would be easier, I guess, to do a procedural or do like a documentary style thing. But they actually the approach was this is a love story. And the thing that you're working through together is this journey into pinball, like starting down the rabbit hole. So when did that transition start? You're like, well, we want to do it this way, more of like an actual story. I think it was early on. The focus, I mean, truthfully, and for those, I'll do a plug for Jeff Teolis, because I know that he interviewed both Meredith and Austin on one of his podcasts some time back. and they really kind of gave the story from their perspective. But truthfully, it was kind of like, does anybody really care about me as a young boy? I mean, they really were viewing it from the standpoint of my life's journey and the fact that somehow pinball became this integral part of my growing up. And we kind of fast-forwarded to college. Nobody needed – I mean, it was like – Nobody needs to know my relationship with my mother and my parents. My sister was supposed to be a part of the movie as well. I mean, we got into the weeds a little bit more in terms of it being much more, I guess, autobiographical, if you will, where I thought that that was somewhat, you know, unnecessary. look I am incredibly grateful for what I have achieved in my life just let me put it that way I never ever thought that it would be the legacy that it has become so looking back and in quotes reliving my life with them I'm somewhat self-effacing I guess in some ways. It was kind of like being this person looking at the menu and saying, well, no, not that. I mean, that's not really important. You know, nobody really cares. And it's like, yes, they do. And I think that the intention always was after we started talking and it's been joked about, you guys know this, you've dealt with me before, you're enduring it now. I talk a lot. You know, I've joked that, you know, when I was in advertising years ago, I spoke in headlines and sentences. When I moved over in the magazine, suddenly I started talking in paragraphs. And that that becomes the problem for me is that I am long winded. And the conversations that we had, these Zoom calls to start with, you know, lasted for hours upon hours.
    15:08
    You know, I think that somebody made a joke that during my seminar at Pinball Expo. So they asked you one question and it became a 14 hour movie. And then they had to kind of call back because you kept on talking. And it was like, you know, it was somewhat comparable to that of going through my life with them asking questions.
    15:32
    And, OK, let me fill in the blanks. And this is kind of where it started and so on and so forth. And then consolidating and condensing it down into something that made sense in the scheme of things. I think that one of the concerns that we expressed, myself, Meredith and Austin, and just looking at everything was, well, people think that this is a pinball movie. and oh my god they're not doing an overhead with a rig and people are not streaming pinball non-stop for an hour and a half will people from the outside world be curious and interested if they think it's pinball movie and understand that it's not and josh thank you for pointing out it is you know it's a love story and it's you know with ellen as as one of the principles obviously in all of this, but it is that kind of like coming together of two people and a young man kind of finding himself through pinball, I mean, in essence. And would people in the outside world be turned off because they think it's only pinball? And will the pinball community be turned off because it's like, oh, well, there wasn't a lot of pinball playing in here. We thought it was going to be. So there was that balance of wanting to have a story that hopefully could capture people's attention, involve them where they actually cared about the characters. And I speak about that almost in a third person, but I really mean it that way to kind of be involved, but yet disassociated. Does that make sense at all? Yeah. In terms of, I didn't want to be heavy handed in how I was treated. And there's a lot of things. And Josh, you mentioned that you had a chance to talk to Zach and to Josh, you know, after Expo. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of things that are pretty much spot on. And there's other things where there are a heck of a lot of liberties. Yeah. And I didn't mind that about myself. You know, I can handle that at this point in my life. So, again, Scott, to kind of follow up on it, I think that there was an understanding that it was going to be like this. And then when it became much more voluminous, there was a question of, all right, how do we bring this in so that there is a reasonably solid story arc where we're taking people along to this journey and then ultimately this crescendo? and the crescendo if you really think about it without spoiling it for those who haven't seen the movie isn't just the courtroom as josh knows because he's seen it it's really like the final scenes with with dennis who portrays me into a t he is just an incredible actor uh so i think that there is all of that that coalesces does that make sense at all yeah Absolutely. And you actually you pointed on casting Dennis as you, which is is so important because for for all of us who are least familiar with you and have talked with you, there's an authenticity that he brings that I watch him on on the screen. and I think that is, he's channeling Roger Sharp. It's not, I don't wanna disparage the film, but Daniel Radcliffe dressing up like Weird Al Yankovic, it still just looks like Harry Potter in a frizzy wig.
    19:12
    It very true But with Dennis you watch him on the screen and you like that that basically a good facsimile of who Roger is So I was so impressed with the way you were able to integrate the personalities in the casting It didn't it felt genuine. Well, thanks. And truthfully, I'll share a couple of anecdotes. and Dennis was magnificent. When we first connected, Dennis was literally one of my top picks, and we were fortunate enough to be able to cast him, that he was available.
    19:50
    And when we first connected, and, again, this is all during COVID and we're doing a Zoom call, his first comment when we were on the computer, face-to-face, he said, you know, some of the questions that are asked of you, My God, because he had watched, I guess, some of my talks at some of the pinball shows. But that was his that was his learning curve, if you will. And what was amazing on a couple of occasions and one in particular was at I guess it's Sag Harbor. I'm trying to remember, on Long Island, the second screening that we had for the Hamptons Film Festival. And I'm standing outside the theater after the Q&A and whatever else and just kind of talking with Meredith and Austin. And this woman comes out, comes over to me, and she just says, you were just incredible in the movie. I just had to say something. And it was Meredith who said, if you thought he was good in this, you should see him in Better Call Saul.
    21:00
    And we all kind of smiled and laughed because truthfully, Dennis really kind of nails it. I think all of it and even the way that we did the capture. Look, initially, the voiceover was going to be a voiceover that potentially was going to be me. and I thought no and then it kind of evolved into well there's this device we can have you know it being this interview and we and it'll be an actor portraying you and then we kind of went from there with Mike it was a little bit different uh Mike actually came out and uh visited with us for a couple of days which I thought was great he just wrapped with uh West Side Story the remake that Spielberg had done and came out we were talking and I'm sitting in the room where he was and it was like do you mind if I set up a video camera and just asking questions and getting into you know and to me as well as looking back on some of the older stuff that I've done that's been on YouTube or God only knows wherever else that people have found where obviously I sound differently, talk differently, my mannerisms, the way I play pinball now with a bad back versus the way I was before. We kind of joked about it before as a 25-year-old as we played pinball here to just see. So let me see how you play, Mike, because we want this to be somewhat authentic. Just, you know, I want you to be comfortable, you know, kind of like, okay with this. And I think that that was, you know, that was one of the key ingredients as well in terms of Mike really capturing a lot of what I would call the nuance of me as a younger person and trying to, again, distance myself from it needing to be something that was dead on with either of them. And even the same with Crystal, who portrays Ellen, you know, whatever those liberties are, you want to get to the core and the essence of the character uh but you want it to be somewhat true although you want there to be enough latitude so that the actors themselves are not confined into a box because it wasn't as if anybody was putting on in quotes makeup to look like me other than you know the mustache and in the case of dennis when he came in i mean for those who have followed Dennis's career most recently, he tends to have a goatee as well. And, you know, we were on air and I said, God, you know, I'm really sorry. I guess you're going to have to, oh, no, don't worry about it. It's okay. I'm fine with it. I said, okay, just want to let you know. I mean, I've had them in the past, but not back then necessarily. So anyway, sorry, I digressed a little bit, but.
    24:02
    Well, and going back to a statement you made earlier about how you were trying to find that happy medium of where casual audiences care about pinball and are pinball people going to care about the general story. And I think they found that perfect balance because there's a bunch of moments. The one that really stood out to me is when you guys are trying to explain the Guardia.
    24:25
    And it just simply is, I'm flying into the airport named after the mayor, and it was literally built on the ruins of an amusement park. That's how much this guy hated fun. And something just so simple and short, just an eight-second clip, right? But it explained exactly what this man hated against pinball. And it was perfect. Just little things like that. And I love that the movie also, there's a couple of times it kind of makes fun of the autobiography of it or like, you know, how movies take liberties. and the current version of you, it was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. It didn't happen that way. You know what I'm saying? I loved that. I loved that they brought it back to reality. It went movie-ish and then it came back to reality. It found a really... I don't feel like I've ever seen that in a movie yet. Unless if you're talking... I don't know. I felt like it did such a good justice of keeping the content true but fun, not boring.
    25:34
    And the other thing too is you started releasing the pinball tapes with Nate Shivers on Coast to Coast. Yeah. But only a couple of those came out. How much – we obviously – well, I've seen the movie, so I know that they play a part in the movie. They play a good chunk of the movie. did they have to listen because Zach has all of the tapes on computer he showed us and I was like holy cow there's a lot of recording here there's a lot of time here there is did that play a lot into the movie like did they go through all that too to kind of get an idea of where was what to do with that yeah they schooled themselves pretty well in regard to the first conversations when I guess they got over the hump of I won't say breaking down the barrier but getting me to think All right, sure, I'll go along with this for now because it's never going to happen.
    26:30
    And, you know, and the conversations were great. I didn't really take it seriously early on, but they had started to do their homework, and I wound up providing to them the tapes. Here's all the people. Obviously, they had my pinball book, so they had the pictures and wanted to get them other stuff that, you know, I have in my own archives here to get them a little bit more familiar with that part of my world and my life. So, yeah, I think that there was enough. And understand something, I'm taking nothing away from the creativity of both Meredith and Austin, who are brilliant. I mean, they really, really are. When I initially looked to see what their background was, I was somewhat flabbergasted. It was like, oh, my God. I mean, these guys are like for real. This is not like a little, you know, independent kind of self-funded, you know, we're going to start to do some kind of a Kickstarter. I mean, these are legitimate filmmakers, and so is the Moving Picture Institute because they sold themselves on me as well as part of the introduction. Hi, we'd like you to watch Miss Virginia, which had won awards and it was based on this mother, this woman in the South who was fighting for educational rights, specifically for her son, but for others. and I looked at the litany of all of the stuff that they had been producing as this incredible force but also as a kind of a laboratory if you will for filmmakers hi this is something that we are doing to support filmmakers funding in whatever non-profit they've been in business for, you know, well over a decade. And here they are, you know, doing these incredible things and they're buying in on what Meredith and Austin, you know, want to do. So I think to the extent that we kind of worked hand in hand, there's a process I wasn't familiar with movie making per se on this level. They did, I think there was five lookbooks, which are short synopses of where they wanted the story to go. And they shared that with me, probably like we were a couple of months in.
    29:03
    They were making notes and whatever, and I was like, here. And yeah, no, we don't have to go back. I mentioned before, we don't have to go back to when I was young, like a little person. No, we don't have to go back to here, or we don't have to do this, and so on, and really kind of condense it down into something that was, I thought, better and then looking at dialogue.
    29:27
    You know, when you start getting into scripts, there's a lot of stuff, and Josh, you've seen the movie, there's a lot of stuff that is literally word for word from me. Oh, really? You know, either Mike is saying and or Dennis is saying, in the context of whatever the scene is, and there's other little things, little embellishments and other things that I was very, very specific about. So your point, Josh, with Dennis and some of the asides of like, no, no, no, no, hey, stop. Before you do anything, we had those kinds of discussions where it would be, you know, on the Zoom call. No, God darn it. It's not going to be that. It cannot be that. And all right, we can do it this way, but people have to understand that I would never do this or this. I mean, I don't want to give away a lot of stuff, but much of that that is in there is my insistence of being somewhat heavy handed in how we were treating various scenes and subject matter. so you know in in in a lot of ways i tend to view it as and i know that i'm listed as an executive producer but i'd like to think that i was also somewhat of a collaborator as well in terms of the script and how we kind of weaved everything together so you know from casting on through to everything to wardrobe, you name it, all of that. I was very much deeply involved in and, you know, I wanted it to be right and wanted it to be authentic. And, you know, we haven't gotten into it, but, you know, even to the extent of the pinball machines, that was really critical for me.
    31:10
    Every machine that is in that movie are machines that were handpicked by me to be in the movie specifically. And yes, Eldorado and Bankshot, people know the legend of that. That's fine. But there are other things that are in there where I can tell you why those were important and critical and why it was appropriate for them to be where they were. Okay. So I think that, yeah, I mean, I'd like to believe that at some point in time, and I know that Nate has gone on to do more things professionally in his life and his world. it was all because of son josh that um he said you know you have the tapes of the interviews from the book oh yeah yeah i got them in downstairs they're in one of the file cabinets i have six six six foot high file cabinets of stuff all right so that when i die the boys are just going to have this wonderful glorious thing of like oh my god what has he left and I'll let people pick through the bones. But I said, yeah. He said, you know, you should transfer those from tape.
    32:20
    You know, I mean, we're looking, what, at 40-some-odd years later. Does it even still work? And it's like, I don't know. I guess. It's not like it's in a humidor for, you know, cigars or a wine cellar kind of thing. And he said you should transfer that into new media. So I wanted, number one, testing it here on literally the cassette recorder that I did the interviews on years ago, putting in new batteries in my little Sony cassette recorder. That worked, thank God. Played it and it was like, oh, okay, so it still works good. And there was a place near here where I took everything in and said, here, just need you to take care of all of these. So that's what everything is living in now, which are all of these CDs of everything. And, you know, I had hoped after Josh broke it down and said, you got to really share this and do this, that at some point in time, maybe all of them will become available. So the people who never heard Harry Williams voice before. Never heard what Alvin Gottlieb sounded like or Sam Stern or Sam Ginsberg. I mean, or any of these people will have a chance to actually hear those interviews.
    33:37
    And even to the point, because there is a point that I'm going to make here, even to the court case before the city council, I have that on tape. So the things that I've always told my sons about, yeah, right. It's just dad. He's embellishing. No, God darn it. It really did happen the way that I'm saying. And here it is. And it's a little bit muffled because of ambient sound. I guess at some point Nate was working on that to separate out the background sound. And I'm not really good technically, but I guess he was getting it cleaner.
    34:14
    And because I didn't realize that I actually had a cassette recorder there on the chair next to me when I was doing everything. thing. So I'm hoping that at some point in time, all of that will kind of come to light just as a historical document. Yeah. How did you select which games you wanted to place? And this does speak to your commitment to authenticity, because a lazy person would say, oh, we just need some pinball machines. So you go in there in the 70s thing, and there's an Addams Family, and there's a medieval madness or, you know, so you actually found all these things. And I remember Josh reached out and he said, does anybody have a video of the tilt for Eldorado? And I actually have a friend who has an Eldorado. And so I texted him. I'm like, hey, can you can you record that tilting out to see what it is? And then I sent it to Josh. But that's like a level of detail that is not common in these type of projects. So how did you micromanage that to figure out which games you want to place where? It was a gift from Meredith and Austin to understand and agree with me. More importantly, from MPI to understand I'm really serious about this. I tend to be much more of a control freak. I am somewhat anal to the point of it probably being uncomfortable for some people in some situations. But I said, this is going to have to be. And thank God the community is the way that it is. The machines that were really specific, obviously Eldorado, Bankshot, Planets, was a critical one. because in 1972 it was one of the types of machines that New York City allowed in,
    36:15
    based on what the ruling had been with Eleanor Guggenheim. Sorry, Bess Meyerson is the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, and it has a short – we kind of condensed a lot of things that, in retrospect, I would like to have had them be a little bit longer, but it's okay. But I needed to find a planets, which was a Williams game. I'm not really a big Pinside person or anything else. But Josh and Zach said, you should go on Pinside. And you post something. Yeah. In search of, yes. And it's like, okay, I don't know how to do this. Fine. And I went on Pinside. I could not do anything unless I paid money. So I paid whatever it was, $10 or $5. $10.15 for verification. Yeah, something to join so I could post something.
    37:11
    And a guy by the name of Davin wound up answering, and I sent back, and I guess he wound up reaching out to Zachary to find out if this was really Roger Sharp. That's hilarious.
    37:28
    So it was like, hi, I really need a Planets. There's a movie that's coming and blah. So it was people like that. Kevin McHugh from Classic Pinball out of New Jersey. Just incredible. And all the people in that community of reaching out and saying, all right, I need I need a subway. I need a cowpoke. I need games from the mid 60s because we're going to focus here on that. I need games from the early to mid 70s. Nope. Can't be older than that. Can't be this, can't be this, and literally hand-selected from the collections. So this is what Kevin has access to.
    38:07
    Awesome. All right. From these, I want these, these, these, and these. And one of the things, in all honesty, is that Bally doesn't exist anymore. Williams doesn't exist anymore. The old stern is the old stern and Chicago coin, D. Gottlieb. So it was going back through all of the appropriate rights holders to ask permission I like to feature these games from Williams from this era What is the cost Because there was a budget involved as well and I stood up because I didn know what the costs were going to be I kind of had an idea because I used to be involved with it at Williams Valley Midway when we had games that were being put into movies or TV shows or commercials where I just told MPI, look, this has to be right. If there's a budget and it goes over, I will make up the difference. But I will not allow anything to be in there that is not time-appropriate, era-appropriate, and more importantly, games that have meaning for me. So I'll share one particular game without giving away anything. It is in the movie. It's Big Ben from Williams, 1975 game. it is the game that I wound up seeing at Al Simon which is a distributorship on 43rd and 10th Avenue in New York City when Al D'Anzillo introduced me to a fellow who had just come in from Chicago by the name of Gary Stern who had just started at Williams working for his dad and I remember asking him so when you guys sit down and go through and design games like big ben is there a reason that it looks like star pool over here and i rattled off like four other games just in terms of what the layout was and what wound up happening a few months after that and this is 1975 was being at the moa show in chicago and connor and gary and gary may not remember any of this or disavow it, but it is true. Seeing him at the show and his thing was, oh, this is Roger Sharp. He's doing a book or whatever. Ask him anything about pinball and he'll tell you all this incredible stuff. Because my approach to doing my research was, number one, back then, and I was much better with it, photographic memory. But I thought that everybody viewed their profession in such a way that I needed to know everything inside and out so that they knew that I was an authentic person, if you will, maybe the best way to describe it. So in that particular context, that was a critical game when I saw that it was part of somebody's collection. Oh, yes, I want that one. I need that one. I need that one. We saw like a five to 10 minute preview of it at Expo when you gave your talk. And there's a point where I believe, you know, Seth's asking, he looks down, he's like, what's so great about Chicago? And so you talk about all the things in Chicago. And he says, because all these things say Chicago on them. Were you even familiar that Chicago was the place where all these things were made? No way. You had no clue? No, I mean, that came through in our conversations. And as I told him, I mean, the best way that I've always described now as an adult over these past few decades, I grew up pinball ignorant. I went to Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, and became entrenched in pinball. And then I moved to New York, and I'm in a wasteland. So I go from ignorance to just this, you know, incredible amount of a symbiotic relationship with pinball. And then I go to New York and it's all gone, you know, and I have to travel to New Jersey or other places. And, no, I have no context at all. You know, I've said, I may have mentioned this before, and we were going to do it more so in the movie, but it didn't make sense that when I used to visit my older sister with my parents, at the University of Illinois for Mom's Day weekend or whatever else, my sister's older than I am, in college they'd have pinball machines there.
    42:45
    And I'd play pinball. I mean, I didn't need to know what was happening at the sorority. I could care less. I mean, there's somewhat a vast age difference. Well, it comes out in the movie. But, yes, it's a difference in age where, I don't know, you know, I'm just a baby brother. I don't know any of this. I don't really care who she's seeing or what's happening at the next big, you know, whatever.
    43:09
    The opening part of my pinball book where I talk about standing on an orange crate. I mean, that's all true and real. The only thing that's not true is it wasn't a pinball machine. It was a baseball man run unit. Pitching back. Yeah. I mean, my God, I still remember. so yeah that was something that we wound up doing to really kind of emphasize the fact that number one I was ignorant about pinball and totally so in terms of it being in Chicago there's another part of it in terms of Harry Williams I didn't know any of these people there were no books I did everything on the fly to start with and it was from one meeting at a trade show or in an office to do interviews that you wind up piecing things together. There was this vast jigsaw puzzle of an entire industry. So how do I find the edges? And then how do I work in the middle parts so that I have an entire puzzle that's completed? And that was my quest. It took me three years of my life to do. So it was back then because there was no internet you had to really kind of go in to microfiche and other files and you know i've said it on a couple of occasions you know looking for research for the article for gq magazine going to the new york public library and the stacks looking up pinball and There was nothing. And let's see, flipper, tilt, pinball. I mean, I tried to think of any words that were pinball words to see, is there anything? And the only thing that existed was an article in 1972 by Tony Lucas that I think was either in Esquire or in Playboy where it was on pinball and the game that was featured was fireball. and I mean it was all these crumbs that you find you know on the path and you pick them up along the way to kind of create the story and so again sorry to be long winded in answering the question but yeah I mean that scene captured my understanding and my discovery of Chicago so the other thought process I had too it's a very different environment now in the pinball industry. I mean, we've got almost, I'm going to say rock star designers, right? There's people who put on pedestals and stuff like that. And it's very interesting to juxtapose with the time period of the seventies when you're doing these interviews, because it's almost these people are standoffish because the only people that come snooping around their offices, it seems are officials that want to shut them down. Right. And so I guess my question is, I assume that's pretty historically accurate too, right? They were pretty standoffish with you when you started trying to do these interviews and whatnot. Oh, big time. You know, the door opened a little bit more readily at Williams because of Gary and that entree that I had in New York City and my spouting about seeing this game and thinking, well, it resembles all these other games and not in a negative way, in a positive way. Hi, that must be the way that games are design. And it was like, so who else are you going to see? And I had started reaching out and through again, through distributors that I encountered and found not only in 10th Avenue in New York City, but outside in New Jersey as well. And meeting some people who were like second, some first generation, but second generation going back to the 30s. So getting all of that as a starting point. And then, yes, I remember meeting Sam Ginsburg at the trade show and said, hi, I'm Roger Sharp. I'm doing a book, writing a book, and I'll be contacting you to interview you.
    47:20
    It was, yeah, I don't do interviews. Thanks. Goodbye. So long. I mean, everybody at that point in time, we didn't get into the weeds. I didn't think it was necessary for the movie, but from Williams and Bally, who were wonderful and great, and Billy O'Donnell and Tom Neiman at Bally, along with Bill O'Donnell and Ross Shearer, Paul Colomari, Bob Hartley, I mean, all of these folks, Jack Middle, Joe Dillon. I mean, the list kind of goes on and on in terms of all the people.
    47:54
    So we're giving you access to all of this, but Alvin Gottlieb, you're never going to get in to see them. really so everybody had this whole thing hi our doors are open for you kind of you know up to a point yeah but gottlieb never and i i remember sitting down and getting into to meet with alvin gottlieb and one of the first things he did was he opened up a drawer his desk drawer and just took out a whole slew of like envelopes and dropped them down on the desk and i'm just sitting there and it's like okay and I know that James is there as well I think for the first meeting to take pictures but opened up one letter and I was like hi because I told him I'm doing research for a pinball book I'd like to interview you and it was somebody writing saying hi I want to do a pinball book and I just need you to do blah blah blah blah and I remember standing back and saying look I don't want you to do anything you don't have to write anything or do I want to ask you questions and I will share the interview with you afterwards so that you can have final say and approval. And I did that with everybody. If there's anything in here that you don't want anybody to know, I will absolutely respect that. Not a problem. And I remember with Alvin, after being led to like the edge of the ocean from everybody saying, you'll never get in, to actually being there and thinking, oh, my God, I've accomplished something incredible. I remember after a couple of hours of talking, I knew more about Alvin and his personal life and his marriages and his children than I did about anybody. He was just such an incredibly warm and open person, and I just kind of ate it up. So to answer your question, it was pretty authentic of trying to get through to people, break down that barrier have them believe that i'm doing a pinball book um who wants a pinball book and i know there's a comment made by a character in the movie that is pretty much dead on you know nobody wants a book about my wife um but uh i think that uh really what i wanted to do and i needed to do and hopefully it has to the test of time although not to the way that i ever wanted it i wanted to pay tribute to these incredible human beings you know i've joked a lot maybe not joking maybe just making it as a statement especially now that i'm as old as i am i encountered men who were old enough to be my grandfather or my father and we were able to talk about pinball.
    50:41
    And we were able to talk about things far in advance of my being born. You know, being able to sit down with Harry Williams and say, wasn't it 1933, Harry, and not 1932?
    50:53
    And, you know, because I'm resurrecting their memories, their accomplishments. You know, with Herb Jones, I was devastated.
    51:02
    I got to Bali at a time when they were recovering from a massive fire that wiped out the majority of their historical records and files.
    51:12
    It was like, oh, my God. And going around to visit distributorships and trying to piece and parse things together.
    51:21
    Nope. I remember asking Alvin, and maybe this sums it up the best, for everybody, and even now today, superstar designers or not.
    51:32
    So, Alvin, what's your favorite game? Favorite game? Well, it's going to be that one, Spirit of 76, that's coming out next year. No, that's like the new game. What is your favorite game? And it was difficult to get him to give me a real answer because the history for them back then, and I think even now, was disposable.
    51:59
    Yeah. You know, when I was talking to Gary about the design of Big Ben and being similar to Starpool, when I started talking to the designers at the time, Gordon Horlick, Steve Kordak, Norm Clark, Wayne, and all the others, and asking those kinds of questions, it was like whatever the new game was that they were working on, that was their favorite. The other stuff just didn't exist. subconsciously they probably were picking up certain geometric parts, just the overall layout and design, but not thinking other than saying, well, that was really successful here. We see that in signature elements from designers in the last era.
    52:48
    I mean, you can see what a Keith Elwin game looks like. You have a sense of the flow and the rhythm of what he does and some of the little nuances in terms of the overall geometry and ball flow. You know, the whole idea of Pat Lawler being a stop and start type of pinball designer.
    53:06
    The better fluidity of somebody like George Gomez, who's always somewhat emulated way back when, Steve Ritchie, in terms of just flow. And you wind up seeing particular things where it's like, oh, it's an adaptation or he flipped it. Not in a negative way. It's just a comfort zone. And I think that, you know, what I discovered back then was that there was no keeper of history. Maybe that's the best way to describe it. And I really thought. There was no historian. You became the historian. Yeah. I mean, I will say that, yes, I did in a way that I had never thought of. I just wanted to pay tribute to these fellows for all the joy that they gave me. it's why it ripped out my heart, and I know we get into it and touch upon it in the movie, that the book that eventually came out was not the book that I originally wrote.
    54:05
    So, you know, it's just the nature of the beast. And now here I am, this, in quotes, elder statesman, who has now reached the same status as some of the other icons, and hopefully I have a few more years left in me. but you hope to carry on the legacy of this industry and all the joy that it has provided so many millions of people. And at a time when I started in all of this, that wasn't the case. It was still an outlier.
    54:37
    I mean, forgetting about the New York case or anything, it was like pinball. Most of these people did not necessarily jump up and down that this is what they were doing with their careers. Yeah. You know, nobody really paid attention to the fact that David Gottlieb on the success of the Gottlieb and company funded Gottlieb Memorial Hospital just outside of Chicago, which is one of the leading hospitals in the country. that was done on the basis of selling pinball machines, for God's sake. So, I mean, there's all of this that I think all of us as a community should take so much pride in for, number one, keeping it alive and what you guys do and everybody else and just helping bring that community together and understand that each of us are a small piece of history.
    55:24
    You know, it is us. and Scott at least justify with your wife honey it's why we need an extra game in the house somebody has to shepherd these exactly yes we need to be the gatekeepers and we need to be the archivists I've got to ask one more question about the movie I don't know if this is a spoiler or not if you want to skip ahead Scott if you need to plug your ears I've got to ask Roger is it true you took your wife to an adult entertainment store to play pinball while you were dating. It seems in the movie you hadn't been dating very long either. No, we hadn't been. Yes, that is true. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. There's a wonderful moment in the movie. I just got to say that. Well, I just think it's hilarious that someone's going to an adult entertainment section for the very risky thing of playing a pinball machine. Yes. Well, and, you know, again, it is part of the story, and I think a lot of people know it, but it's the one place where I found pinball in New York City just by happenstance. Yeah. There was another place that I wound up finding down in the village, which was a record store head shop. And behind all the stacks of records and things, they had a couple of pinball machines. And in fact, one of the games that I played there a lot was Free Fall, which became the basis of Sharpshooter as a design because I really just loved that game, playing it. But there was no games. I mean, fortunately, as a Midwesterner, I kept my car, which everybody thought I was crazy, but it allowed me to drive out to New Jersey or Connecticut or other places, not just to play pinball, but primarily to get out of the city. And, of course, to find places where I could play pinball. what in the movie will that one you're most proud of like a little known fact and two what is your favorite part of the movie there's a lot of little easter eggs in the movie i will say that the one that comes closest to me and i still get emotional about it was the ability to at least pay some tribute to my dear departed Steve Epstein That was really important to me to be able to do that
    58:04
    So that stands out as something, and they understood and knew, and there was actually supposed to be a longer scene with an actor portraying him. There is a character that is called Epstein, but it became much more just because of logistics and locations and timing and whatever. But that to me was incredibly special.
    58:32
    And I think probably the culmination of the movie, without giving too much away, and Josh, I know this, just the finality of it. And the credits, which I didn't know at the time, were going to be the way that they were done with the visuals that were there, is really also very special to me. So some of the Easter eggs, I mean, there's pictures that are on the wall that are of my parents.
    59:03
    I mean, little things that we put in, things that were part of Ellen and what she did and had. So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of, I guess, personalization within the movie that, you know, people won't necessarily pick up on. But for me, it is very much heartfelt. And for me, it is truly, I mean, incredibly grateful and thankful that they were able to do what they did to accommodate. I must admit, Roger, it seems like you have lived your fullest life. and right now you're just doing the side quests and your life is awesome right now. And I expect when this thing releases, there's not a director's cut. There is a Roger Sharp cut, and it's got to be at least, what, three, four hours long? What do you say, Scott? That's the first episode. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
    59:58
    Well, and the plan, just so that people know, more festivals coming up. waiting to be officially announced, looking at signing up a distributor.
    60:15
    There is one that's somewhat on board, but I'm not at liberty to reveal anything at this point. Looking at international as well.
    60:25
    The plan right now with the way that films are being as fragmented as they are is a theatrical release sometime in the spring, maybe March or April. I don't know what that means. I don't know if it's an AMC, a Regal, multiple cities, multiple days, weeks. Don't have a clue. Streaming after that, maybe summer, fall of next year. Don't know exactly, you know, whether it's going to be a Netflix or Amazon or Hulu or an HBO Max or golly knows what. So that that's the plan going forward. And then after that, I don't know. I mean, I guess people still probably buy videos or something or whatever. Beats me. Betamax. They're going to want to buy them and bring them to Pinball Expo next year for you to sign them. That's what's going to happen. I actually did bring my pinball book to Pinball Expo, but I didn't bring it down when we were doing Flippin' the Script. So I'll have to bring it again next year. Okay. All right. Please do. It will be my sincere pleasure. But again, there is a hardcover available on Amazon that is listed for $10,000, $431.63. Don't do it.
    61:48
    Don't do it. Just sell off your Godzilla LE and you'll be fine. You'll have some money to spare. That is crazy. and we have talked about with MPI and some people that have been at the festivals there may be some interest to re-release the book oh absolutely we'll see last time we talked to you said that may be challenging because you don't have the original printer's copy or what you use to create the book No, they have the films. Yeah. Right. But I gather that things have gotten to the point in the world. You can probably digitally scan it and retouch it up. Yep. And more importantly, depending, hopefully I can actually add in more pictures that didn't make the cut because we ran out of pages. Mm-hmm. maybe take more of the interviews that were not in the final book and put those in well as well. So if it can be another 24 page folio added in, I would be I would love to be able to do that. And maybe this time actually read the book because I have never, ever read the book. You've never read your own book? No, it was too painful. I don't blame you after watching the movie it gives a glimpse and that is very much yeah it's very much on target and yeah almost didn't happen okay I do have a follow up question though there is another book that I know you want to re-release and I'm going to show you a picture of it right now oh you got it oh my goodness I knew it.
    63:53
    For those in the listening audience, it is Roger Sharp's How to Get a Good Tan book. How to Get a Great Tan. Oh, great tan. By Roger Sharp. But not really frying. Without frying. Only $1.99.
    64:08
    So I have my very own copy of How to Get a Tan Without Being Fried by Roger Sharp. I'll have to autograph that at some point. Yeah, I probably should have brought this one because this is the more collectible. And it's actually, this is in mint condition. Like even if you look at the spine, it's, yeah, this looks like it came right off the printer. There's a story about that. We'll have to talk about that at some point in time without blowing people. But yeah. So the best way for them to keep up with this process, is it the website? Because I pulled it up. It's pinballfilm.com. Does that seem to be the best way? Yeah, it really is. And there's a lot of wonderful information on there, too, if you want to go check it out. And just to see the actors in their outfits and stuff like that for the movie, it's great. Yeah, I know that they've actually released a lot of stills from the last time I visited, which I thought that was great. And if you click on the various producers and people, the pictures that are there, it will give you little write-ups about them. So if anybody's interested in knowing more about Mike Feist or Crystal Reed or Dennis Bustiquietas, yeah. Well, and I was going to say really quickly too, you've already got loaded up here how many film festivals it's been at, 12 so far. You've won two awards. This is on IMBD, and the two were from the Heartland. One was for Audience Choice Award. So the audience loved the movie and gave you an award for it. And then the other one was the IFJA Directorial Debut Award. So obviously this movie has been well done. It's not just – I can't stress this enough. It feels like an actual movie. A lot of times, sometimes we think of like the Hallmark specials, right? Well, it doesn't feel like a special interest movie. So a movie about like playing video games or a movie like that. Actually, this is a movie that you can take your family to who may or may not share your weird obsession with pinball, and everybody will still have a good time. And Savannah, the SCAD, I think we won an award there that may or may not be on the IMDB website. But I'll share something that one of the day actors mentioned to me. We were sitting down before he was going to go on for his part.
    66:46
    And it's somebody that I've seen in various films over the years. I mean, when you look at some of the other actors that are in the movie, they're going to be depending on the number of movies you've watched in your life that are not necessarily big special effects, over-the-top superhero movies, but, you know, other things. And I remember we were sitting there and he was asking About this particular character Because he was getting ready And he knew his lines And we were talking and as he got up To go because he was getting called On set He said I just got to tell you something This is a movie That people don't realize they're going to go Need to see And he went on and I was like And I sat there Because I had to digest what he said And I was like this is a movie that people don't know that they're going to need to see. Oh, wow. Oh, that was really good. I mean, as I looked over as he's walking away, where it finally sunk in. And I think the point that you guys have made, and I really am appreciative of it, is the fact that it really is, I think, a very heartfelt film, where hopefully, whether you know who the characters are, the story, that you're willing to kind of let yourself go and become entrenched in the experience. And I have to say, number one, Ellen and I have not been in a movie theater going back to probably early 20, maybe 19, 2019 with pandemic and the way that we've been. And my concern only went to the Hamptons, which was the premiere. so the setup was going to be the premiere at the Hamptons for the Hampton Film Festival and then I knew about Rain Dance in London and it was a great excuse for me to take Ellen to see my sister who I hadn't seen in a number of years and to see my nephew and niece so those are the two and it was like you know and wherever else and Heartland actually what wound up happening in Indianapolis was the festival asked if I would be available. And MPI reached out to me saying, hi, would you be available to travel to that film festival? And it's like, well, yeah, I guess. It's Indianapolis. It's only a three-hour drive for me. Sure, I'll do it and whatever. But anyway, going out to New York for the first time, okay, we're going to be in a movie theater. All right, I can try to deal with that. Still hadn't eaten in restaurants or anything else. But my big concern, other than my neurotic obsession in terms of wanting not to get infected or anything, was will an outside regular people audience like this?
    69:52
    You know, for those who are familiar with the movie The Producers or the play, you know, was I Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder standing in the back? waiting for Dick Shawn to come out and do springtime for Hitler and thinking, oh, my God, we have a hit, which is a flop. Let's go have a drink. And watching everything unfold. And, you know, I'm sitting in the audience with Ellen. And it's like, wow. And it's a packed audience.
    70:22
    They are laughing at the right times. They are engaged. And it's like, wow. I mean, from what my insides were doing, which was not knowing if they were going to like it. Are people going to leave in the middle? I mean, because you don't know. You know, at that point in time, I'm very, very close to the movie. I mean, it is me, but just the whole process, as I've talked about with you, you know, will it be well received?
    70:52
    And getting through the movie was fantastic. the Q&A where suddenly I was like, here, come with us. And it's like, huh, you're coming up on stage too. And the questions that were asked, how they were engaged and picking up on things, and not just questions directed at me, but directing at the producers from MPI. And Crystal was there, as well as a couple of the other actors from the movie, and Meredith and Austin. And it was like, wow, this is great. so that was the kickoff for me was getting over the hurdle as to whether or not they would like it and then the affirmation from from you at least josh as well as others that i've heard from people in the pinball community have also expressed a um an appreciation for the movie whether they know me personally or not you know what i went with my wife to scott's point i went with my wife and we really kind of liked it it wasn't what we thought it was going to be or it was or I mean, whatever it was, there hasn't been anything other than the feedback. God, his mustache is so bad. Jesus, couldn't you have done something with it? It's like, no, no. The mustache is fantastic. It needs to be there. Yes. So, I mean, that that was one of the key things. I mean, you know, number one, Mike wasn't able to grow his own. And even if he had 12 years, I don't think that he could have done it. Just probably not. Yeah. But that was the only thing people – well, it was a little bit off-putting to see it that way. And it's like, no, no, no, no. That's – That was a mustache.
    72:32
    Yeah. Well, that actually just shows how attentive to detail you are in that – I was born in 1974. So I lived through this era, and when I see pictures with the lighting, with the clothes, with everything, I'm like, that takes me back in time to that era. Like you were so meticulous on that. And if you if you changed up the mustache, that would distract because I know that that's not what what it was. Well, and Annie Simon, who was the fashion person, nailed it. I would hate to show you all the pictures that Ellen and I pulled out from the closet, put on the floor and took. All right, here's some of the clothes and stuff and things that Mike is much taller than I am now. And even before I lost the two inches because of my back, there's nothing that I should or could have given him to say, here, I brought this out of the closet. Right. Do this. But Annie kind of nailed everything. So all of the support people and everything else, and thank you for pointing it out, Scott, because they really did do a fabulous job on getting things as authentic as they could. So thanks, guys. Definitely. Well, we appreciate you coming on. I also want to thank you again for joining us on Flipping the Script on Autism.
    73:59
    It was amazing to have you on. I know Jen loved talking with you for the hour and a half and playing pinball. And I mean, just everyone that tuned in just enjoyed the casual conversation. And it all went for a great cause. It still blows my mind that we were able to raise $27,000 for helping kids with autism. Well, sign me up for the next one that you do, because for these kinds of causes, I'm there in a heartbeat. it was so fun for me to, even though I didn't play the game with you, I don't know if you recognized I was like a gargoyle on your shoulder. I kept watching you from behind to see how you were playing the game. And it was just so much fun to see that, you know, in person, uh, how, how you actually approach playing a game because it is, it's an art form. Yes. Well, a little bit more frenetic than my sons. Uh, I did make the comment to Jen. I said, Don't let anybody know that I actually just cradled the ball because that's so totally out of character. But, yes, it was fun. It really was. I enjoyed it. Okay. Well, we'll put you back on the list if we ever do it again. Yeah.
    75:13
    Well, again, thanks so much, Roger. We really appreciate you for being on. No, my pleasure. You guys take care. And, again, happy holidays to everybody whenever this airs. And hopefully next year is a good, healthy, and happy year for one and all. And you guys are the best. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you, Roger. We really appreciate it. Yeah, it means a lot. If you want to get a hold of us, we are LoserKidPinballPodcast at gmail.com. You can also get a hold of us on all the socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, all at LoserKidPinball.
    75:50
    We're coming up to the end of the year, so we've got some fun stuff planned. and can't wait to share it all with you. You got anything else for us, Scott?
    75:58
    I'll just say boom shakalaka. Oh, yeah. Well, I guess we'll see you in a couple weeks. Okay, thanks.
    76:23
    Shut up and sit down. We'll see you next time.