ABOUT THE FILM
General Magic captures one of the most influential failures in Silicon Valley history—told through rare archival footage filmed inside the company as it happened, before anyone knew how the story would end.
The Magicians at this startup spun out of Apple began building the first smartphone in 1990, fifteen years before the iPhone. The company collapsed. But the people—Tony Fadell, Andy Rubin, Kevin Lynch, Megan Smith, Pierre Omidyar, Blake Krikorian—carried what they learned into the iPod, iPhone, Android, Nest, Apple Watch, eBay, SlingBox, and the technologies that now shape billions of lives.
Our award winning film examines not just what they built, but what it cost them.
THE FILMMAKERS STORY
In 1992, Sarah Kerruish was hired to produce a promotional film for General Magic, a little company she knew nothing about. She captured footage of the Magicians over the course of three years—engineers in shorts and tshirts, a rabbit roaming the halls, and people who truly believed they could change the world.
Two decades later, reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, Sarah kept encountering names she recognized: Andy Hertzfeld, Joanna Hoffman, Marc Porat, Tony Fadell. People she had filmed, now spoken of as legends. She knew this was a film that had to be made.
Sarah called Michael Stern, General Magic's former general counsel, who had carried the story in his heart for years. Then came Matt Maude, an multi-award winning filmmaker who would write, produce and direct the film with Sarah.
Together, they set out to document not just what happened at General Magic, but what it meant—and what it still means today.
FILM IMPACT
M I C H A E L S T E R N
Journalist, literary critic, Silicon Valley lawyer, with a focus on how storytelling can be used to create a more just and inclusive world.
Mike taught literature before pivoting to journalism, writing for the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Then the mid-1980s, he got his Law degree and joined the emerging field of technology law in Palo Alto, just as Silicon Valley was becoming Silicon Valley.
In 1991, he became General Counsel at General Magic. For four years, he was part of one of the most audacious experiments in tech history. He negotiated the partnerships, worked the IPO roadshow, and then watched it collapse. The experience was so extraordinary that in the mid-1990s, Simon & Schuster offered him a book deal to tell the story. General Magic’s Board of Directors shut it down.
For two decades, Stern carried the story. He practiced technology law in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years, remained an active scholar, chairing the Friends of the Dickens Project at UC Santa Cruz, joined the boards of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and The American Prospect.
Then, in the 2010s, former General Magic colleague, Sarah Kerruish, contacted him. She wanted to make the film. This time, there was no Board to shut it down.
S A R A H K E R R U I S H
Peabody Award winner, Emmy nominee, part of the original General Magic in-house marketing film crew in 1992.
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​​​​​​Sarah started her career at General Magic as part of the team filming the company’s activities for posterity. She went on to hold various positions in the Tech industry including heading up strategy at a company using AI to improve breast cancer screening.
​​​​​​​She is a great believer in the power of stories to heal and to help bring change in our world. She has directed and written several films and TV shows, which have been distributed worldwide and won many awards, including a Peabody award and an Emmy nomination.
M A T T M A U D E
Multi-award-winning director, producer, editor, screenwriter and cinematographer and Tribeca Film Festival Best New Director nominee.
After starring in the UK ITV soap Crossroads in his teenage years, Matt moved behind the camera, directing commercials, films and projects for TV. Previously a member of the UK’s regional screen agencies “Super 8” — one of eight filmmakers to watch, Matt is the winner of fourteen best feature documentary awards and three fiction awards. At the Tribeca Film Festival, Matt was nominated for the Best New Director Award for his directorial debut film ‘General Magic’.
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​He is also a part time lecturer, Matt is the founder of Write Club, the writer's development program for Soho House, The House of Koko, Grouchos, Home House and the Barbican.
D E E G A R D E T T I
Legend builder and part of the founding team at General Magic​
After starting her career working for Tom Peters, author of the infamous book, In Search of Excellence, Dee transitioned to supporting legendary Macintosh inventor, Bill Atkinson, and then managed HR, operations, and culture at General Magic.
​Dee went on to help build companies started by former General Magic employees such as AltoCom (founded by Zarko Draganic, acquired by Broadcom), Mailblocks (founded by Phil Goldman, acquired by AOL), and Slingmedia (founded by Blake Krikorian, acquired by Dish Network).
​With her deep love for the Magicians, it was a natural step for Dee to join the documentary filmmaking team and support the rollout of the movie and screenings around the world. Today, Dee remains the connective tissue of the Magician community, maintaining relationships and ensuring the legacy work honors the people who lived it.
T H E G E N E R A L M A G I C L E G A C Y T E A M
Leading the ongoing conversation through weekly Substack posts and an upcoming podcast
T A M A R A H E L M
30-year Silicon Valley marketing veteran, producer.
Tamara was just 23 years old when she joined General Magic’s marketing team, then built a career managing high-stakes programs under intense pressure: At Netscape during the browser wars, at Adobe during the Creative Suite era, as VP of Marketing & Sales at an app-development agency as the iPhone ecosystem was exploding, and head of a virtual marketing agency she built as a single mom.
After burning out on corporate work, she began studying and coaching on meaning, responsibility, and impact—especially how inherited assumptions about work, authority, and achievement shape who we become.
Thirty years later, she returned to the General Magic story to co-author Mike’s forthcoming book and lead the podcast and promotional activities to examine what the Magicians built and what they wish they'd understood about the systems they unleashed.
C I N D Y C O O P E R
Silicon Valley native, Sony partner marketing to General Magic, SCU innovation ecosystem connector
​Cindy is a Silicon Valley native with decades of experience launching technology innovations. She supported Sony’s launch of the first General Magic device in the early ‘90s, and later handled media relations at SlingMedia, a Magician-founded company, where she worked alongside Dee Gardetti.
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Now Program Director at Santa Clara University's Ciocca Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Cindy mentors students on career paths while connecting the university's innovation ecosystem with Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial community. For the General Magic legacy project, she serves as the vital link between the Magicians and Santa Clara University's network, ensuring their story—and its lessons—reach the next generation of builders.