(Plain Press June 2026) Before smart phones and video cameras, the only device back in the 1970’s to record motion pictures was our parents’ home movie cameras. These revolutionary movie cameras that recorded on a slim strip of 8mm film, were originally made available back in the early 1950’s. These devices gave the public the ability to create their own motion pictures. Most of these home movies consisted of family picnic gatherings, babies’ first steps and wedding celebrations.

   Once the developed films returned from the Kodak lab, it would be shown from a projector on a large silver screen in the family room. However, by the late 1960’s, many adults tired of these movie cameras, storing them away on the top-shelf of the master bedroom closet.

   By the 1970’s, their offspring discovered the cameras and began picking them up to try their luck at making movies their way. Backyards and garages began turning into film studios. Homemade Hollywood props were constructed in basements and dads’ tool sheds. Many of the young filmmakers’ ideas mimicked what was either seen on television or in the movie theaters adding their own unique twists to the story lines. A lot of these 8mm film productions took place around the city using Cleveland and local parks for their backdrops. Years later, some of these kids seen in these small 8mm films grew up to be Ohio mayors, Cleveland judges, electrical engineers and overseas stage performers.

   A documentary about these Cleveland filmmakers, titled “Super 8 Kings”, will air Mondays at 9pm on Cleveland Spectrum Channel 1025; and Cox Cable, Channel 45, on Sundays at 9pm throughout the month of June 2026.