New documentary shines a light on the history of games development in Leamington

As Leamington gets ready to host a major games festival, a documentary film about the town's fruitful relationship with games developers has been created.
The Oliver twinsThe Oliver twins
The Oliver twins

Silicon Spa’s cast includes the Oliver Twins of Blitz Games Studios and Radiant Worlds and David Darling of Codemasters and mixes new interviews with archive footage.

The film, put together by alternative education provider Leamington LAMP, will be premiered at the Spa Centre on Thursday January 31 at 6pm, as a free event which will be part of the Interactive Futures Festival 2019 taking place in Leamington.

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Pip Burley of Leamington LAMP said: “Silicon Spa is a film in which well-known games developers and industry specialists tell the astounding story of how a little-known spa town in Warwickshire became the video games capital of the UK.

Silicon SpaSilicon Spa
Silicon Spa

“We had great fun making the movie and we’re really pleased to premiere at The Spa Centre at Interactive Futures.

“Hopefully, this film will last as a document of the amazing history of video games in Leamington.”

Interactive Futures is a festival dedicated to games, creativity, and culture.

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It will include three days of workshops, talks, and events from January 31 to February 2 and will celebrate the games industry and related creative industries to thousands of people.

Indie developers are being invited to apply to take part in the speed dating-style pitching competition as part of the festival.

The Big Indie Pitch will give each developer four minutes with panels of experts after which they will receive feedback on their submission and pitch.

The best pitch will get editorial coverage in Pocket Gamer, AppSpy and more.

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There will also be the chance for them to win one of Steel Media’s indie packages that can be used to promote and market their game across Steel Media’s portfolio of sites and events.

Silicon SpaSilicon Spa
Silicon Spa

Sophia Aubrey Drake, Big Indie Pitch Manager at Steel Media, said: “The Big Indie Pitch is a competition that shines a spotlight squarely on indies.

“It can be difficult for smaller developers to get the attention they deserve, and that’s where we come in.

“The Big Indie Pitch provides indies with an opportunity to meet industry experts, journalists, investors and publishers, who act as judges and give instant feedback.

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“It’s a genuine pleasure to take the Big Indie Pitch around the world, supporting indie communities in new locations.

“Last year we hosted 24 pitches, ten of which were brand new to us and five of those were in locations we’d never visited before.

“So it’s great that we can begin 2019 in much the same fashion by following our flagship Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 with our first Big Indie Pitch in Royal Leamington Spa as part of Interactive Futures.”

For more information on the Big Indie Pitch visit http://www.bigindiepitch.com

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For more on Interactive Futures visit https://interactive-futures.com

Leamington LAMP is a social enterprise committed to improving people’s lives through high quality arts and education projects.