What got you into Back to the Future?
While I’ve been a fan since the film opened July 4th weekend in 1985, it wasn’t until the following summer when I discovered the article, “The Other Marty McFly?” in the July 1986 issue of STARLOG magazine by the late great Bruce Gordon – an Imagineer for Disney. The premise of Bruce’s essay was that we catch a fleeting glimpse of another “Marty McFly” in the background during the Twin Pines Mall scene (https://youtu.be/lFHN8eZP4g8) at the beginning of the film, which blew my mind. I immediately rented Back to the Future on VHS – which had just been released onto home video in May 1986, and watched that scene over and over, frame-by-frame, for days. My nearly four-decade journey into the BTTF fandom had officially begun.
Where has Back to the Future taken you?
Well, I’ve been a very fortunate man thanks to this film series, meeting most of the cast & crew over the years and forging close personal friendships with so many. I began working “professionally” in the Back to the Future business in late 1992 when I began publishing a quarterly newsletter (pre-internet) called the “Hill Valley Telegraph” to approximately 500 subscribers. That transitioned into an unofficial webpage by 1995, a full-blown website in 1997, and ultimately into the official website for the entire series for the 30th Anniversary in 2015.
Some of the highlights I’ve been involved with over the years was working with Universal Studios Home Entertainment to write the pop-up trivia for the original DVD release for the entire trilogy back in 2002; being invited by IGT to cover the unveiling of the Back to the Future slot machines in Las Vegas in 2004; successfully spearheaded the grassroots campaign to have the Library of Congress add the first film to their National Film Registry in 2007; and being invited by Nike for the unveiling of their Nike Mag shoes to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2011.
Since 2001, I’ve exhibited at countless fan conventions and DeLorean car shows alongside my friends from the cast & crew from the trilogy. I’ve also helped produce a number of documentaries and specials on the trilogy since 2006, and have worked directly with several official licensees to produce some of the more collectible toys, books and other collectibles over the last couple of decades – a list far too long to showcase here. It’s been quite an interesting and enjoyable journey!
Do you have a favourite item(s) if so what is it and why is it your favourite?
I’ve been collecting Back to the Future since the very early days, long before most anyone else did. I’ve long had an affinity for production materials from the films, having had the honour of owning a number of original props, costumes, scripts, continuity Polaroids, etc. over the years. My very first prop was an early prototype of the 1885 Hill Valley Map from Back to the Future Part III, which I still own to this day and is currently on loan to the Hollywood Museum for their ongoing Back to the Future Trilogy exhibit (http://thehollywoodmuseum.com/exhibit/back-to-the-future/). I have some personal items given to me by Tom Wilson and Bob Gale, which I all remain as some of my personal favourite items that I still cherish to this day.
Other Information and details.
https://www.BacktotheFuture.store https://www.BacktotheFuture.com https://www.Twitter.com/BacktotheFuture https://www.Facebook.com/BacktotheFutureTrilogy https://www.IMDB.me/StephenClark