Silicon Cowboys

Showings

Mary D. Fisher Theatre Thu, Jun 15, 2017 4:00 PM
Mary D. Fisher Theatre Thu, Jun 15, 2017 7:00 PM
Film Info
Event Type:Film
Release Year:2016
Run Time:77 minutes
Production Country:United States
Original Language:English
Trailer:youtu.be/z96uzo55RGg
Cast/Crew Info
Director:Jason Cohen
Cast:Bill Murto
Rod Canion
Jim Harris

Description

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present a one-night only special premiere of the award-winning new documentary “Silicon Cowboys” on Thursday, June 15 at 4 and 7 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.

Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with one of the subjects of the film and Sedona resident Bill Murto.

They risked their future to create ours.

Three friends dream up a portable computer at a Texas diner in 1981, and soon battle IBM, the world's most powerful tech company, for PC supremacy. Compaq Computer's improbable journey altered the future of computing and shaped the world we now know.

Launched in 1981 by three friends in a Houston diner, Compaq Computer set out to build a portable PC to take on IBM, the world’s most powerful tech company. Many companies had tried cloning the industry leader’s code, only to be trounced by IBM and its high-priced lawyers.

“Silicon Cowboys” explores the remarkable David vs. Goliath story, and eventual demise, of Compaq. Directed by Academy Award-nominated director Jason Cohen, the film offers an insider's look into the explosive rise of the 1980's PC industry and is a refreshing alternative to the familiar narratives of Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerberg.

“Silicon Cowboys” features interviews with Compaq founders Rod Canion, Jim Harris, Bill Murto as well as Alec Berg, Executive Producer of HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” and Chris Cantwell, co-creator of AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire.”

Sedona resident and one of the founders of Compaq Computers, Bill Murto, will lead a discussion and Q&A session after both screenings of “Silicon Cowboys”.

Bill Murto first traveled to Sedona in the fall of 1985 to give a marketing presentation to computer dealers.  “I arrived late in the evening and had no idea what I would awaken to in the morning.  When I walked out on the patio, I was immediately in awe of Boynton Canyon!  My wife and I purchased a home here in 2005.”

From 1967-1978, Murto served in the US Naval Security Group, which was reorganized under the US Cyber Command in 2005.  Upon receiving an MBA from the University of Texas, he joined Texas Instruments’ Minicomputer Division in Austin, TX as a Business Development/Product Planning Manager.  While in this position, he developed the plan for Texas Instruments’ entry into the Storage Products business through its Terminal and Peripheral Division in Houston, TX.  Rod Canion, future co-founder and President of Compaq Computer Corporation, hired Murto as the Marketing Manager for the newly-organized Storage Products Center in Houston, TX.  It was at this time that Murto set up trips with Rod Canion and Jim Harris, future VP Engineering at Compaq Computer Corporation, to tech companies on the West Coast—later known as Silicon Valley.  It was through these trips that the entrepreneurial spirit developed with the three men.

As one of the three founders of Gateway Technology, later Compaq Computer Corporation, Murto was responsible for building the Marketing and Sales Team.  Compaq Computer Corporation was founded February 16, 1982.  It shipped the first Compaq computer in January 1983.  By April 28, 1986, Compaq Computer Corporation became the first company in history to achieve the Fortune 500 within 4 years since its establishment.  Compaq’s sales grew to over $1B by the end of 1987.  Murto departed the company in April 1987.