Private Project

OPERATION: Operation The Power of Play

In 1964, John Spinello invented the iconic game Operation and sold the rights for $500. The game has since sold 45 million+ copies worldwide. In 2008, John went broke and discovered he needed surgery that he couldn't afford. Game inventors Tim Walsh and Peggy Brown launched a crowdfunding campaign calling on fans of Operation to help pay for John's surgery. Scores of doctors, nurses and surgeons wrote to tell how Operation inspired their careers in medicine. The film chronicles John learning that his game invention touched more people in more ways than he could ever have imagined.

  • Tim Walsh
    Director
  • Peggy Brown
    Director
  • Tim Walsh
    Writer
  • Peggy Brown
    Writer
  • Tim Walsh
    Producer
    Toyland
  • Peggy Brown
    Producer
  • John Spinello
    Key Cast
    Toyland
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 19, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tim Walsh , Peggy Brown

Co-directors Tim Walsh and Peggy Brown love this film!

Tim Walsh is an author, game designer and filmmaker. His film Toyland, directed by Ken Sons, on which he served as Creative Consultant and Co-editor, won best Best Documentary awards at three US film festivals including Cine-World Independent Film Festival, Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and the prestigious Naperville Independent Film Festival.

Peggy Brown has created hundreds of products that have been mass-produced and marketed all over the world. She has worked inside companies as a creative director and VP, and on her own as a producer developer, creative thinker, designer, and writer. OPERATION:Operation The Power of Play is her first film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

John Spinello only made $500 from selling the patent to the iconic board game, Operation, to a toy development company in 1964. fifty years later, he found himself in the position of needing an operation of his own that he couldn’t afford. In 2015, we launched a campaign to raise money to help John get his operation, and an avalanche of goodness poured in. We raised over $32,000 with the assistance of over 1,200 backers, to help John get the oral surgery he needed.

During our campaign to help John with his medical expenses, we heard from thousands of people worldwide who love Operation. Some of them told us that their love of the game inspired them to become electrical engineers, nurses, doctors, and even surgeons. Then we received a letter from a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical School who wrote to tell John that he was inspired by Operation to invent a device that has since been used in nearly a million successful surgeries around the world. That’s when we knew we had to make a movie. The power of play, to inspire and even transform us, is a main theme of the film. After 50 years of anonymity, John is finally being recognized at the tender age of 79. He now knows the game he invented has touched many more people, in many more ways, than he could have ever imagined. We love John and can't wait to introduce him to the rest of the world through this film.