Period-accurate computing
Every era from 1960s mainframes to 1990s desktops: hardware, software, screen layouts and how operators actually behaved.
What I can do for your production
Detail that survives a cinema screen and a pause button.
Hacker and sysadmin authenticity
Real terminal work, genuine workflows, authentic on-screen code. The Mr Robot benchmark, not the Hollywood caricature.
British home computing
ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro and the broader British bedroom computing scene of the late 70s and 80s.
Networks and datacentres
Hands-on knowledge across every era: thicknet coaxial and vampire taps through structured cabling to modern facilities.
Electronics and working props
Sourcing advice, hardware authentication, and fabrication where it needs to actually work on camera. Museum and gallery interactives, including communications history exhibits.
The network
Thirty years in the global tech community. If I do not know the answer, I know who does.
How I can help
From script to wrap.
- Script consulting for technical plausibility before cameras roll.
- On-set technical advisor for real-time decisions on screens, props and actor behaviour.
- Screen content creation: period-accurate interfaces, terminals and dashboards built to spec.
- Props sourcing and authentication: identifying and verifying real hardware for the era.
- Working prop fabrication: electronics that actually function on camera.
- Actor coaching on interacting with period hardware authentically.
Background
Not a CV. Context.
I started at IBM, learning networking from the people who built it, then moved to 3Com during the early Ethernet years. Linux from 1994, rebuilding kernels nightly because that was just the deal. In 2011 I founded Gold Coast TechSpace, one of Australia's first hackerspaces, connected to the global network. These days I run Refactor, an engineering and IoT consultancy -- software and contract electronics production, with projects spanning museums, galleries and the arts.
I missed the 1960s mainframe era by about a decade, but I have worked on mainframes and learned the earlier years directly from engineers who were there. I hold an amateur radio licence under callsign VK4DMZ -- handy when a script needs radio culture or RF hardware talked about with any credibility. Based on the Gold Coast, right in the middle of Queensland's growing film corridor. My son has studied film and worked on productions. Our household watches with genuine attention: Brazil, The Godfather, Sneakers, Reservoir Dogs, Groundhog Day, Arrival, Time Bandits, Firefly, Dark, Star Trek, Monty Python. Asimov's Foundation and Stephenson's Snow Crash are old favourites.
That kind of eye notices when the technology is wrong -- and cares about getting it right.
Sneakers (1992) remains the benchmark. Every production should aim for that level of technical honesty.
Let's talk about your production
Based on the Gold Coast. Available for remote consulting, on-set work and travel. Happy to have a confidential conversation.
+61 414 464 564 If you call, send a text first so I know to pick up.