Conceiving Ada

1h 25m 1998

Brief Synopsis

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An imagined biography of Lady Ada Lovelace, daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron, and mathematics genius who developed what became the world's first computer language 100 years before computers. Ada's life story is told through a contemporary computer scientist named Emmy Coer who is obsessed with d

Cast & Crew

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Lynn Hershman Leeson

Director

Tilda Swinton

Ada Byron King--Countess Of Lovelace

Timothy Leary

Sims

Karen Black

Lady Byron; Mother Coer

Francesca Faridany

Emmy Coer

John O'keefe

Charles Babbage

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Adaptation
Drama
Experimental
Release Date
1998
Production Company
Complex Corporation; Lea Ditson; Messy Optics; Zdf/Arte
Distribution Company
WINSTAR; Fox Lorber Associates
Location
San Francisco, California, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 25m

Synopsis

An imagined biography of Lady Ada Lovelace, daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron, and mathematics genius who developed what became the world's first computer language 100 years before computers. Ada's life story is told through a contemporary computer scientist named Emmy Coer who is obsessed with devising a means by which she can have an actual dialogue with the virtual Ada trapped in her computer. With her mentor Sims by her side, Emmy invents a virtual memory retrieval code that enables her to communicate with this most unusual historical figure, whose sexuality and mathematics were truly ahead of their time.

Director

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Director

Cast

Tilda Swinton

Ada Byron King--Countess Of Lovelace

Timothy Leary

Sims

Karen Black

Lady Byron; Mother Coer

Francesca Faridany

Emmy Coer

John O'keefe

Charles Babbage

J D Wolfe

Nicholas Clayton

John Perry Barlow

John Crosse

Owen Murphy

William Lovelace

Esther Mulligan

Mary Shelley

R.u. Sirius

Barlow

Ellen Sebastian

Dr Fury

Mark Capri

Dr Locock

David Eppel

Simon

Pollyanna Jacobs

Cocktail Server

Lillian L Malmberg

Anne Isabelle Byron

Cyrus Mare

Ralph Byron

David Brooks

Children'S Tutor

Michael Oosterom

Lord Byron

Kashka Peck

Teenage Ada

Rose Lockwood

Child Ada/Claire

Charles Pinion

Cd-Rom Byron

Jesse Talman Boss

Baby Ada

Chris Von Sneidern

Musician In The Elevator

Joe Wemple

Priest--Talk Show Host

Lavay Smith

Lead Singer (Club Band)

Bing Nathan

Upright Bass (Club Band)

Chris Siebert

Piano (Club Band)

Bill Stewart

Alto Sax (Club Band)

Roger Shaw

Voice Of Priest

David Brooks

Crew

Rosemary Astromsky

Production Assistant

Kathleen Beeler

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Robin Berman

Main Title Design/Animation

Joe Bini

Assistant Avid Editor

David Bjorngaard

Art Department

David Bjorngaard

Production Assistant

David B Brubaker

Video Playback

Debbie Brubaker

Production Manager

Tom Bruchs

Dolby Sound Consultant

Peter Buchanan

Legal Counsel

Tom Bullock

35mm Post-Production Wrangler

Inze Byl

Boom Operator

Isaac Camner

Gaffer

David Cerf

Additional On-Line Editor (Bay Area Video Coalition)

Angela Chou

Negative Cutter

Jamie Clay

Computer Graphics Artist

Jamie Clay

Mechanical Bird Modeling

Jamie Clay

Digital Visual Effects Supervisor

Robert Dalva

Editor

Nathalie Dierickx

Assistant Art Director

Lea Ditson

Ada'S Cape & Velvet Dresses

Jesse Drew

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Alfred Equitz

Legal Counsel

Christopher Forrest

Dialogue Editor

Kim Foscato

Dialogue Editor

Mark Garrett

Virtual Set Photography

Mark Garrett

Production Stills

Mark Garrett

Other

Paul Gianakos

Boom Operator

Kim Gonzalves

Craft Services

Terrence Graven

Costume Consultant

Walter Grey

Mechanical Bird Modeling

Walter Grey

Computer Graphics Artist

Susan Grode

Legal Counsel

Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir

Godsdog Animation (Xaos Inc)

Laura F Haynes

Art Director

Louis Hohenstein

Sound Effects Editor

Mia Lor Houlberg

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Mia Lor Houlberg

Other

Mia Lor Houlberg

1st Assistant Camera (Video)

Pollyanna Jacobs

Costumes

Jyoti Jalali

Assistant (To Henry S Rosenthal)

Scott Johnson

Computer Graphics Artist

Scott Johnson

Mechanical Bird Modeling

Eileen Jones

Screenwriter

Suki Jones

Production Assistant

Gregor Keller

Best Boy Electric

Alan Kelley

1st Assistant Camera

Matthew Kenney

2nd Electrician

Paula Lederman

Production Assistant

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Supervisor

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Production Designer

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Producer

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Offline Editor

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Screenwriter

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Other

Jonah Loop

Computer Graphics Artist

Meredith Macarthur

Production Assistant

Marine Macerot

Makeup & Hair

Caitlin Manning

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Sue Marcoux

2nd Assistant Director

Cat Mcgrath

Production Assistant

Fanny Mendelsohn-hensel

Solo Piano Concerto (Arabesque Records)

Jennifer Meyers

Foley Artist

Mirka Morales

Costumer

William Murray

Production Coordinator

Hiro Narita

Director Of Photography

Davia Nelson

Casting Consultant

David E Nelson

Supervising Sound Editor

David E Nelson

Re-Recording Mixer

David E Nelson

Foley Recordist

David E Nelson

Sound Design

Jakob Nielsen

Other

Kevin O'lone

Cg Production Manager

Sadie Plant

Other

Helen Plotkin

Godsdog Animation (Xaos Inc)

Jim Rolin

Ultimate Compositing (Videofax)

Kerry Rose

Dialogue Editor

Josh Rosen

Sound Design

Henry S Rosenthal

Producer

Laurel Roth

Mechanical Bird Modeling

Laurel Roth

Computer Graphics Artist

Laurel Roth

Other

Ed Rudolph

On-Line Digital Effects Editor (Video Arts)

Tone Sanchez

Production Sound

Keith Sands

Main Title Design/Animation

Jarrod Sartain

Digital Photography

Jarrod Sartain

Other

David Schwartz

Main Title Design/Animation

Steve Sheridan

Color Timer (Deluxe)

David Shippey

Key Grip

Lavay Smith

Song

Lavay Smith

Song Performer ("Blow Me A Fat Note")

Luis Sola

Title Treatment

Daniel Sperry

Dolby Sound Consultant

Anjali Sundaram

2nd Assistant Camera

Skip Sweeney

2nd Unit Camera (2nd Unit)

Andy Switzer

Dialogue Editor

Andrea Terry

Art Department

Andrea Terry

Production Assistant

Chryss Terry

Script Supervisor

Keith Terry

Foley Artist

Carter Thomas

Title Opticals (Messy Optics)

Betty A Toole

Book As Source Material ("Ada, The Enchantress Of Numbers, A Selection From The Letters Of Lord Byron'S Daughter And Her Description Of The First Computer")

Jake Tornatzky

Music Editor

Jake Tornatzky

Foley Editor

Claudia Tronnier

Executive Producer

Claudia Tronnier

Commissioning Editor (Zdf/Arte)

Chris Von Sneidern

Song

Chris Von Sneidern

Song Performer ("One Side In Heaven")

Anna Wagner

Godsdog Animation (Xaos Inc)

Mark Wallenberg

Godsdog Animation (Xaos Inc)

Gretchen West

Make-Up Assistant

Matt White

Godsdog Animation (Xaos Inc)

Eden Wurmfeld

1st Assistant Director

Bill Zarchy

Director Of Photography (Virtual Sets)

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Adaptation
Drama
Experimental
Release Date
1998
Production Company
Complex Corporation; Lea Ditson; Messy Optics; Zdf/Arte
Distribution Company
WINSTAR; Fox Lorber Associates
Location
San Francisco, California, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 25m

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Winter February 26, 1999

Released in United States on Video January 25, 2000

Released in United States 1998

Released in United States January 1998

Released in United States February 1998

Released in United States 1999

Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival April 23 - May 7, 1998.

Shown at Seattle International Film Festival May 21 - June 14, 1998.

Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Forum of Young Film) February 11-22, 1998.

Shown at Cinequest 1999: The San Jose Film Festival (Maverick Tecnology and Film) February 24 - March 3, 1999.

Sophomore feature outing for Lynne Hershman Leeson who previously wrote and directed the experimental "Virtual Love" (USA/1993).

Broadcast in USA over Sundance Channel as part of program "She Said Cinema" May 1-31, 1999.

Fox Lorber acquired worldwide distribution rights at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

For "Conceiving Ada", multi-media artist Lynn Hershman Leeson invented the "LHL Process of Virtual Sets," allowing the composited images to be placed into digital tape in real time, whereas in the past this process was done in post-production.

Released in United States Winter February 26, 1999

Released in United States on Video January 25, 2000

Released in United States 1998 (Shown at San Francisco International Film Festival April 23 - May 7, 1998.)

Released in United States 1998 (Shown at Seattle International Film Festival May 21 - June 14, 1998.)

Released in United States January 1998 (Shown at Sundance Film Festival (American Spectrum) in Park City, Utah January 15-25, 1998.)

Released in United States February 1998 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Forum of Young Film) February 11-22, 1998.)

Released in United States 1999 (Shown at Cinequest 1999: The San Jose Film Festival (Maverick Tecnology and Film) February 24 - March 3, 1999.)

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