Yes I Am - The Ric Weiland Story

This documentary does an excellent job of showing us what a big impact Ric Weiland had to both software development and LGBTQ+ rights. Ric was a very private person and very little was known about his private life. This film does an exemplary job of showing Ric's life through piecing together Ric's feeling and ideas through his journals as well as setting the political environment that existed at each stage.

The interviews go more in depth and truly humanize Ric through the viewpoint of his friends and co-workers. You can see Bill Gates reminisce about Ric and his contributions with starting Microsoft as the second employee. There was a lot about Ric that I learned throughout the movie and truly connected with a lot of the topics.

Methodical and a pioneer throughout his life, it was a surprise to find how significant his donations and contributions helped fun several pivotal foundations during their early stages. For someone who has done so much, it's hard to believe this is the only documentary of Ric, but it's about time!

Ric Weiland was part of the high school group that was interested in computers - a group that included Bill Gates and Paul Allen. He could be considered the #3 person at Microsoft. Out in high school, he had no problem living a gay lifestyle when not working. His early donations were to gay rights and HIV research, though this expanded to a wide range of charities and foundations. He also managed to personally advocate for gay rights in the corporate world. Shy with a self-declared lack of social skills, he was leery of new people, especially as his wealth grew, which turned into bouts of depression.

The story is told in various ways. There are readings from his journal, archival footage, interviews with friends and partners (including Bill Gates), and animations of his feelings. The title is from a vanity license plate Ric once had. While deliberately shoehorned into 61 minutes, it did not feel as if anything major was left out.