“With great wealth comes great responsibility”: the personal motto of Ric Weiland, one of Microsoft’s first employees who was pivotal in the progress of the Information Age, the Gay Rights Movement, and AIDS research. His philanthropy secured his legacy and improved the lives of others, even as his own entered a “downward spiral.”
After a bravura opening that captures the shifts and shockwaves of the Reagan-Era 80s, filmmaker Aaron Bear, narrator Zachary Quinto, and Bill Gates introduce us to the brilliant, yet troubled Weiland, who pursued personal fulfillment far more than “quick money.” Though, it was often the latter that came more easily. The film moves at the speed of a blazing-fast processor, offering us reenactments and excerpts from Weiland’s personal journal, helping us piece together the public and private history of a man who would help revolutionize the “art” of computing while curating enough enviable, outrageous fashion to justify a Costume Collection. Out and proud since Microsoft’s founding, Weiland worked hard and played hard to pave the way for others, his humanist outlook saving him, for as long as possible, from his personal demons.
Q+A / AARON BEAR
Meet the filmmaker Aaron Bear, director of the documentary YES I AM: THE RIC WEILAND STORY. An interesting talk about his work, the why, the how and more.