Heart of Neon

@d0kk.bsky.social

1004 Followers 1174 Following

A Scottish filmmaker living in Brooklyn NY, making a documentary about an English video game designer who lives in Wales.

Photo of HEART OF NEON Blu-ray disc and case, with text superimposed: KICKSTARTER 12 HOURS TO GO! HEART OF NEON Last Chance to grab this collection. 2+ hours of bonus material, art sleeve by Steinar. See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details
Photograph of Jeff Minter with text superimposed: “...what I love about working with Jeff is that he does it for the pure love of doing it. And that comes across in any interaction that you have with him. It always comes down to the core of what's being made and the artistic vision of it. ….that's just a great skill to have in this industry... to not be distracted by all the superfluous things, all the artifice ” Wade Rosen, CEO of Atari HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
A photo of Jeff Minter with text superimposed: "'the thing about Jeff that I admire most is his singular voice and no compromise for that. He did what he wanted to do for four decades. He didn't do it for anybody else. He'd occasionally do something for Atari and do whatever, but it was still on his terms. And that's unprecedented, especially for this long. It's just a fascinating career.' Mike Mika President, DIGITAL ECLIPSE ENTERTAINMENT PARTNERS, Co. HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEART OF NEON.COM"
A stylized digital llama with a glowing red heart stands before a psychedelic maelstrom
image of the HEART OF NEON Blu-ray disc and case, with second case behind adorned with the Steinar art sleeve. Text superimposed: KIKCSTARTER LAST 5 DAYS! HEART OF NEON Last Few Days to Grab This Collection. 2+ hours of bonus material, art sleeve by STEINAR. See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details.
A photo of Jeff Minter with superimposed text: "'I can't think of Jeff Minter without the word legend in my head. For someone to be in games for decades means you're in it for the art, you're in it for the love of it. You're not in it for the money... You just can't say, I'm doing this for the business and the business is great and that's all I care about. You really have to care about raising the bar each time. I think Jeff does that.' Harold Goldberg, Author of ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US: HOW FIFTY YEARS OF VIDEOGAMES CONQUERED POP CULTURE. HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM"
Close up photo of Jeff Minter in profile, with superimposed text: "What makes Jeff stand out, and what for me was the whole point of the artistry when I was younger, was this notion that it’s you in the thing. It is an extension of you. It is part of you, it is part of your character, your personality, and the means of expression… That merging between [the artist] and the thing they’re doing, to the point where… there is no space between them.' Gary Penn. HEART OF NEON. A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter Campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
A photo of Jeff Minter with text superimposed: " 'He often doesn't believe that people will see the value in his stuff that he feels himself... that's typical Jeff. But every now and then the world is ready for Jeff Minter...' James McCauley. HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM"
A photograph of Jeff Minter with text superimposed: "'VLM turned into that otherworldy experience of just being piloted... Instead of you trying to fight against the game or the controls, it was just Enjoy the experience. Come along for the flight... And... I said to Jeff, this is incredible. I can't believe what you've made. This is so special. I just said thanks. Thanks for being you.' James Cope" HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
Photo of Jeff Minter in a field with a llama and a sheep, with a photo of Paul Docherty superimposed in the corner, and additional text: BONUS EPISODE. GAME OLDER PODCAST
A photo of Jeff Minter with superimposed text: “ a lot of people consider ...video games should be free. And so developers have to resort to either chucking ads in everything or making it so that it's all constantly trying to milk the player for more and more consumables. You've got to keep paying and paying and paying to play the game. And to me, that is abomination. I'll never go down that route.” HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
Photo of Jeff Minter at his desk, with superimposed text: “He's never given up on game design as a discipline, as a vocation. It's all very much work, but it is this peaceful kind of compromise. [Jeff’s attitude is] this is going to be the work, but I'm only going to agree to do this amount of work for something that I really love. I mean, to me, that's the ideal expression of what video games are ...turning mathematics into something you can feel.” Mike Thomsen HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
A photo of Jeff Minter in extreme close-up, with text superimposed: “...in the old days, [the idea of] magic was that people could use spells and incantations to just create stuff out of nothing... We are the actual true magicians. By speaking these words of power into machines, we can actually create stuff, we can put stuff out there in the world which other people can have and use. To me the real joy is being able to do that. To get stuff out of [my brain] and actually make it exist, just by speaking this weird language is fantastic!” HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
A photo of Jeff Minter laughing, with superimposed text: “This fun scene we’d started out in was… it wasn’t like it was disappearing, but it was mutating into something else. And it seemed to me that if you wanted to stay in that scene then you had to become something other than what you’d been before. And I didn’t want to become other than what I was.” HEART OF NEON A Film About A Life In Video Games. Support the Kickstarter campaign, follow the link at HEARTOFNEON.COM
Drawing of Jeff Minter behind a giant Blu-ray disc and case, with text superimposed: KICKSTARTER EARLY BIRD DEALS END IN TWO HOURS! HEART OF NEON Back the Blu-ray Early Bird deals end tonight! See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details.
Drawing of Jeff Minter behind a giant Blu-ray disc and case, with text superimosed: KICKSTARTER EARLY BIRD DEALS END IN TWELVE HOURS! HEART OF NEON Back the Blu-ray Early Bird deals end tonight! See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details.
Heart of Neon blu-ray and case, with other Heart of Neon merchandise behind, and superimposed text: "KICKSTARTER LIVE NOW!!! HEART OF NEON Back The Blu-ray Thursday May 22nd. Early Bird Special Deals end May 23rd! See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details."
Heart of Neon blu-ray and case, with other Heart of Neon merchandise behind, and superimposed text: "KICKSTARTER starts TOMORROW! HEART OF NEON Back The Blu-ray Thursday May 22nd. Early Bird Special Deals end May 23rd! See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details."
David Bowie points a gun at Candy Clarke, who seems to be trying to lick it.
line art of Jeff Minter surrounded by video game elements, with superimposed text: "KICKSTARTER STARTS IN TWO DAYS! A Documentary About The Exceptional History of Jeff Minter and Llamasoft. HEART OF NEON Back The Blu-ray Thursday May 22nd. Early Bird Special Deals end May 23rd! See HEART OF NEON Kickstarter page and Discord for details."
The HEART OF NEON Blu-ray and case in front of an exploding digital llama emerging from a psychedelic tesseract.
A hand drawn portrait of Jeff Minter looking meditative while a digital explosion of video game love happens behind him
The Heart of Neon blu-ray disc and case depicted floating over a digital llama's silhouette standing in front of a psychedelic maelstrom
Stylised llama posing in front of a psychedelic maelstrom, with superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON LLAMATHON Tuesday April 22nd 2025 Begins 10am US/ 3pm UK. Llamasoft gameplay livestream. YouTube.com/@heartofneon/streams Heart of Neon Celebrates the birthday of Jeff Minter with a 6-hour livestream featuring gameplay from select Llamasoft titles including IRIDIS ALPHA, LLAMATRON, POLYBIUS, SPACE GIRAFFE and many more!"
A psychedelic, stylized digital llama poses in front of a chaotic technicolor maelstrom
Disney's Snow White aggressively rejects the Queen's offer of a poisoned apple
Photo of a young Jeff Minter with video game graphics superimposed, upon which more text is visible: "HEART OF NEON is reuniting with the past. The VIC-20 was my first computer, and Jeff's games were among the first I bought for it. Wacky Waiters by Imagine was the first, definitely, but Abductor followed closely after that... HEARTOFNEON.SUBSTACK.COM"
#WeAreIndiedev logo with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is indiedev to the core! Today, Monday 9th December at 12 noon US Eastern I'll be hosting the latest #WeAreIndiedev livestream on the HEART OF NEON YouTube live channel. I invite you all to join me..."
A stylized llama icon with the delicate hues of a seashell floats in front of an ice-blue psychedelic vortex
An abstract geometric psychedelic pattern with text superimposed "HEART OF NEON is... about remixing! On the drive back from New Hampshire and the family Thanksgiving shenanigans my wife & I listened to one of our favorite music podcasts, HIT PARADE. This particular episode was about... HEARTOFNEON.SUBSTACK.COM"
Photo of young Jeff Minter looking to the right, with superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is... discovery. The original premise of this blog was to reappraise my in-progress newsletter updates from the present-day perspective of a project near completion. This post is right on that mark. HEARTOFNEON.SUBSTACK.COM"
Cartoon drawing of a llama with a speech bubble containing the word "Unity", with superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is.. Unity! I didn't know how things were going to end when I set out to tell Jeff's story. For one thing, it's still happening, with more twists and turns every day. The trick is to stay focused... HEARTOFNEON.SUBSTACK.COM"
A photo of Jeff Minter with a llama on a leash, in the middle of the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Superimposed text reads: "HEART OF NEON is a map, not the territory. 'Directing was once described to me as leading a crew or an audience into an underground maze, and the director is at the front with the flashlight, illuminating the way. As a sort of path...' Heartofneon.substack.com"
Photo of Paul Docherty in a restaurant holding a DSLR camera, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is stepping up your game. You don’t know what you don’t know, right? I thought I was a top shelf editor, which is probably the biggest reason I thought embarking on making HEART OF NEON without the typical support system most... heartofneon.substack.com"
A photo of Jeff Minter standing in front of a huge screen showing his lightsynth lightshow. Superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is not about being big. I have a text card near the start of the film. The card describes how the global video game industry has a very large dollar valuation. Yesterday it occurred to me that the valuation..."
A photo of a donkey with Jeff Minter walking by in the background. Superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is... collaboration. I reached out to a film producer a couple of months ago, a friend of a gamedev acquaintance. She was a very intelligent, very focused individual, and it was a real pleasure to spend some..."
A psychedelic portrait of Jeff Minter, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is... all about polish. Wanting my film to be taken seriously by the mainstream media brings a lot of associated baggage. Accurate documentation of the contents of the film, a clear legal chain of title that..."
A photo of the Portland Retro Gaming Expo Guest Pass lanyard, a black and white laminated card with a blue strap. Superimposed text: HEART OF NEON is communicating magic. I just spent the weekend at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, the largest retro gaming event in the U.S. Gerald Levinzon, one of the organizers, is a huge fan of Jeff's work and he invited..."
A close up of the printed program for the 7th Official Commodore Computer Show, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is... embracing the unknown. When I went to my first computer expo - The Official Commodore Computer Show, probably in 1986, hosted at the Novotel in Hammersmith - it was my second time in London, but it still felt..."
Portrait of Paul Docherty, with text superimposed: "PAUL DOCHERTY, Director HEART OF NEON. Portland OR Sept 17-29 PORTLAND RETRO GAMING EXPO"
Photo of hands typing on a laptop keyboard, with superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is... not getting lost in the dark. I admire what Jeff has been able to accomplish. I lacked the acumen to become a successful solo gamedev, and lacked the leadership skills to be able to create an effective team HEARTOFNEON.SUBSTACK.COM"
Portrait of Silver Spook A.K.A. Chris Miller, with text superimposed: "SILVER SPOOK GAMES Hawaii, U.S. #WeAreINDIEDEV HEART OF NEON IGDA Foundation"
Portrait of the indiedev group Linh Tinh, with superimposed text: "LINH TINH Viet Nam #WeAreIndiedev HEART OF NEON IGDA Foundation"
A photo of a very young child joyfully playing a video game at a computer show, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is... indiedev! When I started this film project I knew next to nothing about the indiedev scene. I'd come up during the home computer boom of the mid-80s, cutting my gamedev teeth on the Commodore 64..."
Portrait of Coromoto Studio team, Carlos & Carmin Suarez, with superimposed text: COROMOTO STUDIO Texas, U.S. #WeAreIndiedev HEART OF NEON, IGDA FOUNDATION
Close up of Robin Levy's portrait of Jeff Minter, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is making art out of inspiration. I've talked about my collaboration with Robin Levy before, in the context of being on the giving end of the creative notes process. What I' didn’t talk about was what this image represents for me..."
A neon llama in the maw of an intensely bright psychedelic maelstrom
A photo of Jeff Minter being interviewed at his workstation, with text superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is reminding yourself of the original goal. I'm refining the cut as I prepare HEART OF NEON for mastering, removing unnecessary archival material and polishing (and in some cases overhauling entirely) animations have been..."
Portrait of Fergus McGovern as a young man, with text superimposed: HEART OF NEON is taking another look at old assumptions. Preparing for this blog I hit on the newsletter piece I wrote about FROM BEDROOMS TO BILLIONS, another great UK video game doc. Fergus McGovern namechecks me in that film...
A photo of two 90s CRT computer monitors on a desk in front of a rust coloured curtain, a man sits off frame to the left, only the side of his long hair and his shoulder is visible. Text is superimposed: "HEART OF NEON is about a changing landscape. When I started making this film I was confident it was going to end up on a streaming service. I was perfectly happy with that idea. Streaming video was maturing - Amazon Prime Video was..."
portrait photo of Yiyi Zhang
Text on psychedelic background: #weareindiedev HEART OF NEON / IGDA Foundation July 8th 2024 youtube.com/@heartofneon a 2-hour livestream starting at 12 noon Eastern Time
Jeff Minter celebrates in the midst of a rowdy crowd of men. Superimposed on the photo is the text: HEART OF NEON is... appreciating the support. I came to this project perceiving Jeff as totally on his own: self-reliant, unrestrained, but lacking the kind of support other people take for granted. Turns out I was wrong about..."
The Lobot Mods iconic logo, a lobot on a Lambretta scooter, next to a portrait of Jane Fonda as Barbarella and of Cara Delevingne as Sgt Laureline in Valerian And The City of a Thousand Planets
A lobot on a Lambretta scooter, next to two portraits: Jane Fonda in BARBARELLA ,and Cara Delevinge in VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS
Photo of video game developer Jonathan Blow, as featured in the film INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE, sitting at a desk typing on a laptop computer. The photo has superimposed text: "HEART OF NEON is... choosing which details are important. INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE set a very high bar for gamedev movies. So obviously I decided to do everything differently when I made HEART OF NEON. IG:TM wasn't the first..."