Grab your popcorn — TAPP Movie Night is back! 🎬 This time we're heading to the big screen for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, the story of Roger Sharpe and the journalist crusade that helped overturn New York City's ban on pinball. Big thanks to Moving Picture Institute (MPI), who've generously licensed the film for our screening and made this whole night possible — and to the team at State Cinema for hosting us. After how much fun everyone had at our first movie night social, we couldn't say no to doing it all again.
Like last time, we'll kick things off at The Winston from 6pm for dinner, drinks and a social pinball hang, with a few fun prize challenges along the way: split-flipper comp, blind play, single-hand, and the return of Jaws: The Revenge takedowns. When you're ready, it's literally next door to State Cinema for an 8:30pm screening — leave yourself a bit of time to grab snacks before the film rolls.
It's a genuinely cozy setup with seats limited to just 20, so this one will go fast once tickets open. We're not releasing tickets just yet (keep an eye out after PDL), but get ready to jump on them quick.
Here's a taste of what we'll be watching:
Brothers Austin and Meredith Bragg have spent years channeling their sibling rivalry into award-winning content. Most recently The Bragg Brothers wrote and directed their debut feature film Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, starring Mike Faist (West Side Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf), and Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul).
Produced by MPI Original Films, the comedy is based on the true story of Roger Sharpe, the journalist who helped overturn New York City's ban on pinball. The New Yorker declared the film "a feast of wryly nuanced acting, a giddy wonder, and also a warmhearted, sharp-edged love story…worthy of classic-age Hollywood." (Whew!)
Previously, the Braggs wrote and directed the short film A Piece of Cake, starring Rich Sommer (Mad Men, GLOW), which was nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and went on to win several awards including Best Comedy and the Audience Choice Award in Comedy at the Oscar-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival. Their comedic web series, The Defenders of Stan, was sold to Warner Bros. Television and they co-wrote the pilot. In 2016 they won the HP Masters of Short Film competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As producers for Reason TV, their work has garnered three first place wins for Best Comedy at the Los Angeles Press Club Awards as well as a National Magazine Award nomination. The Braggs have produced projects for Turner Broadcasting, Visa, Atlas Obscura, AT&T, The Smithsonian, The Washington Post, and two pilots for Warner Bros.'s online division.