Canada – WIZARD MODE is an exciting short documentary film that shares with the world the story of Robert Gagno, a young man with autism who is ranked as the fourth best pinball player in the world.
Released earlier this year, SALAZAR, the producers of the film, hope that WIZARD MODE will soon become a full length film. An Indigogo campaign launched, Sep 16, will hopefully fund the project.
The Indiegogo campaignpage states:
‘Robert Emilio Gagno has dedicated most of his young life to mastering WIZARD MODE. In professional pinball the initials R.E.G. strike fear, admiration and respect – he’s ranked in the top ten out of thousands of competitive pinball players in the world. But there’s more to him than just being a pinball wizard. At the age of three, Robert was diagnosed with autism.
With the support of his parents, Robert has practiced non-stop, developing an almost otherworldly skill for the game. Though he has many victories and the support of the pinball community, he seeks to find his independence as he comes of age. Robert tries to balance all of his real world responsibilities and still be a pinball champion, searching to unlock his own WIZARD MODE.’
The short documentary can be viewed below:
How our readers help
The most immediate help would be to become a contributor to the film by going to the Indiegogo campaign, but a great help is sharing the campaign and awareness of the film. It’s also a really great way for people to become part of the making of the film and for people to get behind the story to help it reach a greater audience. The more eyes the better!
You can follow WIZARD MODE on social media to stay up to date with the film:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wizardmodefilm
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wizardmodefilm
Website: wizardmodefilm.com
Indiegogo campaign page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wizard-mode-a-documentary
After watching the film, I wanted to learn more about Robert, his early years and more about the plans for the feature film. I was lucky enough to be able to ask questions to Robert; his mother Kathy and one of the two directors from Salazar, Jeff Lee Petry.
Next are my interviews with them, beginning with Robert’s Mom, Kathy
What was life like as a family when Robert was growing up?
It was very busy. He was the middle child of 3, with an older brother and younger sister. His brother is 24 months older, and sister is 3 years younger. It was very hard to take all three kids out at the same time when they were very little because this was around when Robert’ behaviours were the most challenging, since he had a very difficult time communicating and was extremely active, with no sense of danger. In fact, if we were out for a walk or going somewhere busy, I often had to put Robert on something similar to a leash!
In many ways though, we did the same things as many families like going to parks on the weekend. During the week, for many years, I felt like I always had to drive or pick someone up from somewhere or something. My children all did best with routine (like many children) but Robert did require extra supervision. In the summer, we often rented a house on one of the local islands near here, and all of my kids enjoyed that.
Did you get help and support as a family?
We had help from relatives, especially my parents-in-law. They helped drive Robert to pre-school or to appointments, or looked after my other kids while my husband and I took Robert to appointments. My sister and my aunt, and other family members were always very welcoming to Robert. We did not qualify for financial support from the government, but did receive a bit of money for “respite” support, which covered the cost of a few hours of care per week, so we could spend time with our other children.
When he was a young child, we also had a child care worker who took him places to practice socializing, usually once a week, and in his early teens he participated in a special youth group on Saturdays, which focussed on life skills such as taking transit or crossing streets safely.
Did you know much about autism previous to the diagnosis?
No and neither did my doctor. Back then, “autistic disorder” as it was called, was rare and usually reserved for what we would now describe as moderate-to-severe cases of autism. He was such as nice looking boy that when I first expressed my concerns about his development, people told me that there was no way that anything was wrong because he was so cute, and not to worry because many boys talked late and were hyperactive (this was when he was 5 years old even!) Internet was not widely available then and I had to depend on library books, and very few books were written about the subject and mostly talked about very severe cases, with dismal outlooks! I remember when they first mentioned autism after his assessment I was like “huh? Aren’t those the kids who hug vacuum cleaners?”
I had no idea of the “spectrum” description. I also have no idea where that vacuum-cleaner bit came from, but it was pretty common because I remember numerous people asking questions like “Is he afraid of vacuum cleaners?” (in fact he was),”does he like vacuum cleaners a lot?” and I swear to God even my family doctor, after hearing the diagnosis said “But he doesn’t hug vacuum cleaners does he?” It is actually pretty funny in hindsight, but it shows how little people knew about autism and how rare it was.
In the film we find out that Robert’s love of pinball began at the age of five. Where did he go to play pinball? How many times a week?
The first time he played pinball was about the age of five, when my husband took him to a hamburger café near our house. There was a pinball machine there and Robert started to play with it. We went there maybe twice a month because we could actually sit and eat while Robert kept busy with the pinball close by. Most of the time in restaurants he was too active and loud to eat out. When we took him out to places like bowling alleys, he was always more interested in pinball machines there than anything else. When he was young I estimate he would play pinball a couple of times a month, but mostly by accident, we didn’t take him to play pinball on purpose. We noticed that in most places he was very sensitive to noise and would often cover his ears, but with pinball seemed to love the sounds it made.
My older son likes pinball somewhat but not nearly as much as Robert does. He finds the sounds annoying and too loud. They both like video games and when they were younger would often play Nintendo together, but that stopped when they were about 16 and 14. I would like to see them socialize together a bit more but they are quite different in personalities.
My oldest son is very intelligent and quiet, preferring reading or making computer games, and is selective about things, whereas Robert is very extroverted despite his autism (the most extroverted in the family!) and the older he gets the less selective he is, such as trying exotic foods. However they share common interests too. Hopefully they will start to hang out with each other more as they get older. Robert’s sister likes pinball too and occasionally participates in local tournaments with Robert, but she is busy with many things and doesn’t have the same level of passion for pinball, but as I said does enjoy it.
Whose idea was it to make a film about Robert?
He has been in several news stories on TV and in print, and a TV channel (Discovery Channel) did a series of 7, one-half hour episodes about savants, and Robert was the subject of one of the episodes (the series is called Ingenious Minds). Through one of the stories, the film company Salazar began to notice more stories about Robert, and found out that one of their friends knew Robert through pinball, so they thought it would make an interesting story. At the time they were looking for interesting ideas to make a personal project, so they just happened to hear about Robert and pinball at about that time, and we were fortunate!
How were you approached to make the film?
The mutual friend (Brennan) gave Jeff and Nathan (the filmmakers) our contact information and one day I received a call from Jeff saying he and his film partner were interested in possibly making a film about pinball starring Robert. We arranged for them to come over to our house and they met Robert and explained to us about their company and their general vision, and that they would need us to be active participants if we decided to go ahead with it. We liked them right away. I remember they said they would be seeking some funding to make the movie, and then we didn’t hear from them for awhile. I sort of figured maybe they decided to do a different project, or maybe the funding to start the film didn’t materialise, but one day they contacted us again with a kind of “Hey, remember us?” type of email and the rest all fell into place. I don’t think at the initial stage they realized what they were getting into. There are so many different facets to pinball! We have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the process and seeing all the cool stuff they are doing to make the film.
Coming up next is my interview with Robert and the film Director.
Kathy asked Robert these questions verbally and helped him to articulate his responses.
When did you begin to realize that you had a talent for playing pinball?
He knew he was good when he was little and knew that he loved playing pinball, but didn’t realize how good he was until he entered his first tournament, which was the Canadian Pinball Championships held in Toronto. He went along with his dad on a business trip there and entered the tournament on a weekend. I think he finished somewhere in the top 12, which is pretty amazing for a first-timer. That was when some of the more experienced players began to notice how good this newcomer was too!
Can you explain to our readers why you love pinball so much?
At first he just liked seeing all the lights and seeing the ball move around the playfield and hearing the various sounds. Later he began to enjoy remembering the patterns and realizing that there were different achievements he could get, and each game had its own unique rules to learn, which is good because he has a very strong memory for patterns and rules.
He describes pinball as making him feel very happy inside, especially when things go well, and feeling other emotions such as sadness when things don’t go as well. He also enjoys meeting new people who like to play and talk about pinball as much as he does. He feels his communication, social skills, concentration level, and ability to think quickly and change strategies have all improved because of pinball.
How was the filming process for you?
Most of the time it was a lot of fun. He enjoys the different places and experiences he has had through making the film, such as taking a train to Chicago (3 days each way), a long close-up tour of the Stern factory. Jeff and Nathan like doing things that he finds really fun and enjoyable…they are way cooler people than mom and dad! Sometimes it wasn’t as fun such as when he wore microphones and then worried a bit about what he might have said, or occasionally needing to “redo” shots (mostly for non-pinball things) but these were just minor things. He is very excited, and a bit nervous, to see the final product, and at the same time says he will be a bit sad when it is finished because it has been a big part of his life for the past two years.
Can you explain a little about growing up and your experiences of having autism? Did playing pinball help you?
He has said pinball has helped with communication with other people and with social skills, including being a good winner and loser, with concentration and with thinking fast. He remembers being frustrated with people not understanding him. In many ways he doesn’t enjoy having autism, mostly because sometimes people might see him as being different or not treating him the same as any other people, but he also doesn’t hide it and has realised that through the attention he gets from being so good at pinball that he is seen as kind of an”ambassador” for people with autism and that his success at following his passion and becoming one of the best in the world at something is inspirational.
Jeff Lee Petry
Can you tell me a little about the filming process?
We have been filming with Robert and his family for almost 2 years now. It’s been a lot of time on the road, more than I think we expected initially. It seems like at least every second weekend Robert and his family are traveling somewhere quite distant to compete, whether it’s in Seattle or Pittsburgh or Denver, they are very committed to the pinball community and to Robert’s career, not to mention that its a lot of fun!
It’s been a real privilege to be able spend so much time with Robert (and his family), he is such a genuine, honest guy that it makes filming with him really unique and enriching. We will have definitely come away from the making of this film having made a good friend in Robert. It can be an intense thing to have a camera or two following you around, especially when you are in the really stressful situation of competing at a really high level, and Robert has handled it with total grace and bravery. I think he understands the greater importance of telling his story.
If the Crowdfunding campaign is successful, when and where can we see the film?
The film will be released in the early half of 2016, first in film festivals, on Vimeo VOD, and will probably have a small theatrical run as well.
How can our readers help?
Well, the most immediate help would be to become a contributor to the film by going to our Indiegogo campaign, but you can also be a great help by sharing the campaign and awareness of the film within your communities. We are in the finishing phase of the film and this part of finishing in particular gets really expensive in ways that are unavoidable, so we are thankful to have really supportive communities to help us along the way. It’s also a really great way for people to become part of the making of the film and for people to get behind the story to help it reach a greater audience. The more eyes the better!
We would very much like to thank Robert, Kathy and Jeff for taking the time to answer our questions and we look forward to the film’s release in 2016.
You can follow WIZARD MODE on social media to stay up to date with the film:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wizardmodefilm
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wizardmodefilm
Website: wizardmodefilm.com
Indiegogo campaign page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wizard-mode-a-documentary