Steve Jobs Played FDR in "1944" Apple Marketing Video
An Apple internal marketing video surfaces, showing a new side to Steve Jobs.
May 9, 2012 — -- Steve Jobs was many things. A great innovator. A perfectionist. A savvy business man. And also a bit of an actor.
In 1984, Steve Jobs, who was then CEO of Apple for the first time, acted as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a short film. The film, which has just been released for the first time, was made to be shown for motivational purposes, only to be viewed at internal Apple meetings.
Entitled "1944," it was shot entirely in black and white and depicts Apple and IBM as enemies in war, World War II to be specific.
In a clip in the middle of the video, Jobs appears behind a desk (presumably at the White House) calling a general. "Your battle will be long, your battle will be hard, but it will be won. I am sure your victory will be great. Insanely great," Jobs advises the head of the Macintosh camp on the telephone. A clip is posted above; the full nine minute clip is posted on YouTube. According to Network World, Apple spent $50,000 to make the video.
The film has now surfaced for the first time thanks to Craig Elliot, a former Apple employee. Elliot, the current CEO of Pertino Networks, shared the video because he wanted to show another side of Jobs following Walter Issacson's autobiography and Jobs' passing.
"There was another side of Steve. He wasn't just the harsh taskmaster that always seems to pop up," Elliot, who worked in sales at Apple from 1985 to 1996, told ABC News. Elliot was given a Porsche 944 by Jobs himself for being one of the "top sales guys at Apple."
Since the video has posted online, others that were involved in the filming of "1944" have come forth to share stories from the shoot.
Michael Markman, the creative director at Image Steam, the company that produced the film, has detailed his experience on his blog. He also shared with ABC News a bit about the strategy behind the film.
"I can remember him [Steve Jobs] saying something along the lines of 'When we started we were all sitting in one room… I need to find ways to keep the entire employee base motivated.'"
Markman also described how Jobs' loved the idea of playing FDR and didn't want anyone else to do it. "He got into the role and enjoyed it."