Beverly Hills, Calif. — 3D printing enthusiasts will soon be able to take a closer look at the technology through the SXSW Film Festival award-winning “Print The Legend,” which has just been acquired for presentation by Netflix.
The over-the-top movie-streaming service said Wednesday that the 3D printing film that earned the SXSW Special Jury Recognition Award for Editing & Storytelling in the Documentary Feature Competition will premiere exclusively on Netflix in 2014 and will be available to stream in all territories where Netflix is available.
The Netflix original documentary goes behind the scenes of the top American 3D printing brands as they fight for dominance in the rapidly developing field.
The film follows the people racing to bring 3D printing to your desktop and into your life. For the winners, there are fortunes — and history — to be made. According to Netflix, 3D printing is “the next industrial revolution” that is changing the world — from printing human organs to guns, to dismantling the world’s industrial infrastructure by enabling home manufacturing.
“ ‘Print the Legend’ is both a 3D printing documentary, capturing a tech in the midst of its Macintosh Moment, and, even more so, a compelling tale about what it takes to live the American dream,” Netflix said.
“It’s so rare for a film to capture history in the making, and Luis Lopez and Clay Tweel have done just that in their skillful presentation of the elation and betrayals experienced by young entrepreneurs detailing the groundbreaking technology of 3D printing,” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix original documentary and comedy VP. “This is a compelling glimpse into a game changing technology as it nears an inflection point going from the fantasy world of a few obsessed visionaries to a must-have technology that may enter every home.”
The film delves into the people behind the machines and asks tough questions about the industry’s creative drive to enable consumers to produce anything from trinkets to handguns, including being there with provocateur Cody Wilson as he uploads his printable-gun files to the Internet, setting off a worldwide media firestorm.
Main story in the film is the rise and challenges faced by start-ups MakerBot and Formlabs as they vie to release consumer models and control the narrative of their market to compete with established industrial players Stratasys and 3D Systems.
