It's been a busy past few months, so we’re excited to share another meaningful update about the journey of Legends of Adventure: The Story of Sierra On-Line with you and reveal what's coming next.
We're still targeting a 2026 release for the documentary – and as you'll read below we've made a lot of progress towards that goal!
Recently Completed Interviews
We are pleased to announce that our most recent round of interviews included conversations with:
Josh Mandel,a designer and producer at Sierra On-Line and the voice of King Graham, who helped craft the tone and humour of some of the company's most beloved games. Josh spoke from the heart about his experience at Sierra, calling it "the best four years of his life."
Mark Seibert, a composer, director, and producer at Sierra, who helped establish the sound that set Sierra's adventures apart. His vantage point revealed how Sierra stayed on the cutting edge of multimedia storytelling, and we're so happy to have interviewed him!
Laine Nooney, an Associate Professor of Media Industries at NYU and one of the foremost scholars on the history of the early computer and games industries in the United States. Laine has researched and written about Sierra On-Line extensively, and will help the viewer understand why Sierra mattered, how it succeeded, and why it still resonates so strongly today.
Marcus Mera, theco-producer of Ken and Roberta Williams' recently released remake of Colossal Cave, which brought them out of retirement. As a fan and collector of Sierra On-Line games himself, he gives us a window into why the Williams' returned to gaming after decades away from the industry.
Each interview subject brought thoughtful perspectives and their own unique personal experiences to the story, and we are grateful for their participation.
Post-Production Progress
A behind-the-scenes shot of our editor's desk – where the magic happens!
We are now deep into post-production and have nearly completed an assembly cut of the film. This is the first rough version of the film where every scene, interview, and story beat is placed in order from start to finish.
For the first time, we are able to watch the story unfold from beginning to end. It's been an incredible experience seeing the tale of Sierra On-Line – as well as years of work by our team – finally take shape on screen. This has been a long journey and though there is much more work to be done, we're so thrilled to see it starting to come together.
Next Steps: Final Interviews
A very dedicated collector recently showed us some classic On-Line Systems computer games in person
With the assembly cut nearly completed, we're still working to schedule a few very exciting final interview subjects and we're working diligently to make these conversations happen. We're excited to reveal who these people are when we're able to confirm their participation!
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Thank you again for your continued support, enthusiasm, and patience as we work to tell the story of Sierra On-Line and the remarkable people behind it. We look forward to sharing more soon, including an exclusive backer-only look behind the scenes as the film continues to take shape. Be sure to follow us on Blueskyand Instagram for day-to-day updates on the doc and more!
We're here today with a very special update marking one year since Legends of Adventure: The Story of Sierra On-Line was successfully 100% funded on BackerKit!
With the generous support of our backers, we went on to exceed our original goal and our own expectations. It was an important day for the team because it was the day we officially knew that we were going to get to tell this incredible story and do it in a way that was worthy of the subject matter. So thank you again for making this possible!
Documentary Progress Report
It's been a year full of progress on the project – almost two dozen amazing interviews, over 40 hours of footage, hundreds of pieces of archival material sourced, and almost a month spent on the road by our team – and there's so much more to come.
Interviews continue (more on that in the "Backer Only" section below) and we're now deep in post-production with work on a first assembly cut well underway, as well as the film's score and main title design.
We're excited to share more news on this front in the coming months, but for now we want to give you a sneak peek at one of the highlights of our last production road trip...
Inside the Williams' Oakhurst Home
As mentioned in our last update, the previous production leg brought the LOA team to Oakhurst, California – home of Sierra On-Line's headquarters from the early 1980s until 1993. The majority of the Sierra team lived in and around the area during this time, including co-founders Ken and Roberta Williams.
After some early successes at Sierra and around the time that development on the original King's Quest began, Ken and Roberta decided to build a home in Oakhurst. With six bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, two kitchens, a bar and game room, and indoor volleyball court, the palatial house was unlike anything else in the region and a tribute to what they'd built at Sierra so far.
Home to the Williams' young family, more than a few wild company parties, and the development of some of Sierra's most beloved games, today the house remains largely the same as when it was first built, complete with stained glass referencing early Sierra titles like Mystery House, The Wizard and the Princess, and The Dark Crystal.
Take a look inside the Williams' Oakhurst home below:
So if you're planning a trip to the Yosemite area in the near future or want to relive the glory days of Sierra On-Line with a big group of friends, the owners of the property have provided us with a discount code – SIERRADOC10 – that can be used until the end of 2027 to book the house on loveyosemite.comfor 10% off.
Once again, we're incredibly grateful to all the backers for their support and for coming along with us on this wild journey. Follow us on Blueskyand Instagram for updates on the documentary and more!
Following update is BACKER-ONLY! If you missed out on the campaign, support us on Patreon to check out a mirror of this update~ https://www.patreon.com/c/nicojian
I'd like to introduce you to one of the most popular works in this campaign from the "Add-ons" section: Musashiba & Kokojiro, created by Federica D'Angella and Chiara Bono. (I'll leave you with a little drawing of Tidy by Federica D'Angella.)
This is the epic story of two great samurai, Musashi Miyamoto (Musashiba) and Kojiro Sasaki (Kokojiro), recreated as a double-sided comic.
The comic's narrative changes depending on how you read it. If you read it from the "Musashiba" side, you'll find the character's point of view with a "Western" comics-style reading from left to right. If you read it from the "Kokojiro" side, you'll find the character's point of view with an "Eastern" manga-style reading from right to left.
The story's ending is at the center of the volume, with the two stories colliding toward it. All drawn in a gorgeous watercolor style that enhances the beauty of the panels! We're leaving you with a few preview pages!
We've surpassed 35% of the campaign! We're slowly reaching our goal, and it's all thanks to you! Let's keep it up! Every donation is crucial, and thank you so much for your trust!
We're officially 1/3 of the way through and are receiving tons of requests to collaborate on the pilot of "The Little Trashmaid"!
However, before we can work with the various professionals who have offered to join the project (voice actors, background artists, animators, etc.), we need to reach our goal of €150,000!
Let's keep going and try to raise as much as possible (the more funds we have, the more we can improve the quality of the project)!
In the meantime... I'll leave you with a little gift created by our animator Tomura Glacier! A "silly" preview!
P.S. Check out the "Add-ons." Maybe you'll discover some interesting new projects or comics you didn't know about!
First off, a huge thank you for all the support so far - it means so much to see people showing up for TABOO!! 🎉🎉🎉
To celebrate hitting 50% funded, I’ve been cooking up something really fun…
So here’s the plan: Once we reach 100 backers, every single one of those first 100 unlocks three exclusive rewards - nothing to upgrade, no extra cost!! Yes, if you're already a backer, you're in ;)
What you’ll get:
🩸 Secret First Draft Storyboard (PDF) A raw, never-before-seen look at the entire first draft of the pilot’s storyboard - scribbles, crossed-out ideas, the whole grungy relic!
🩸 Your name in "The Founding Hundred" A special section of the credits dedicated just to you and the other early believers ;)
🩸 Voting Power You’ll get a private poll where you decide a background detail that actually makes it into the final pilot!
How you can help right now:
If you haven’t pledged yet, join in and grab your spot in the first 100!
Already pledged? You're in! Thank you! Share this project with someone who'd love indie folk horror - tell your friends, coworkers, classmates!
Share it on your socials (and tag us!) - a post, a story, a comment would help immensely!
We've reached €45,000 in less than 3 days! We're doing great, but the finish line is still far away, and we have to do our best to convince people to believe in us and spread the word to the world! WE CAN DO IT!!!!!
As always, thank you for the results so far, and in case you haven't seen it yet, here's a little animated promo that s0s2 uploaded to YouTube a few days ago.
I hope you enjoy it, and I'll talk to you soon about something cool we're preparing (also because we have so many things we want to show you to build hype for "The Little Trashmaid" animated project)!
