Many people working in the technology industry today got their start on a machine made by Commodore International — a Vic-20, a Commodore 64 or, if they were lucky enough, an Amiga.

A new documentary movie, to be released on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video next month, plans to tell the little-known tale about one of the early big successes in the computer industry.

Backed by a Kickstarter campaign, The Commodore Story promises to explore the rise — and fall — of Commodore and the people that turned it into a household name in computers — long before MS-DOS-powered IBM-compatible PCs became the norm.

Founded by Polish immigrant and Auschwitz survivor Jack Tramiel in Toronto, Canada in 1954, Commodore played a pivotal role in the 1970s and 1980s in the development of early home computing.

The Commodore Story, a two-hour documentary, includes interviews with Tramiel and other members of the team that built and marketed computers such as the Vic-20, the C-64, the little-known C-128 and the graphics powerhouse, the Amiga. It also features interviews with third-party software and videogame developers, many of whom got their start programming Commodore machines. Watch the trailer below.

The film, produced and directed by Steve Fletcher, will be available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in up to 4K resolution, and will also be made available on Blu-ray disc. The filmmakers plan to release a 50-page book featuring photos and interviews from the documentary.

The Commodore Story was funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which raised £48 990 (about R825 000) from 1 230 backers.

Did you own a Commodore? Which model? Tell us about it in the comments below. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media