THE LAST INVENTOR: CHUCK HULL & THE HOPE OF 3D PRINTING to Premiere at Newport Beach Film Festival
The documentary follows the quiet engineer whose invention transformed medicine, housing, aerospace, and manufacturing across four decades.
At a moment when conversations about technology are increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, automation, climate change and uncertainty about the future, filmmaker Brent Wilson (Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, 72: A Gathering of Champions, Miracle: The Boys of '80) is looking in a different direction — toward hope.
The Last Inventor: Chuck Hull & The Hope of 3D Printing will premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival on October 17, introducing audiences to the remarkable story of Chuck Hull, the quiet engineer whose persistence gave rise to modern 3D printing. The film explores how his groundbreaking invention continues to transform medicine, housing, aerospace, manufacturing and, ultimately, the lives of people around the world.
Event Details
Newport Beach Film Festival
Regal UTC, Screen 6
4245 Campus Dr, Irvine, CA 92612
October 17, 2026
1:30PM
Long before 3D printing became a global industry, Hull was working after hours on an idea that few people believed would work. He was underestimated, dismissed and told his invention would never succeed. Until it did.
Directed, produced and written by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Brent Wilson, television producer Ray Marchant and film producer Mark Ciardi (Secretariat, The Rookie), The Last Inventor follows Hull's journey and traces the extraordinary ripple effect of his invention more than four decades later. What began as an experimental idea has evolved into technologies being used to build homes with less waste, create specific props and practical elements for film and television, create affordable prosthetic hands for children, manufacture patient-specific medical devices that can make a quadriplegic walk again, explore 3D-printed organs and develop components for space exploration to name a few. Even the late Pope Francis was on board.
At the heart of the film is a deceptively simple idea: make only what you need, where you need it, using less material and creating less waste.
For Director Brent Wilson, that philosophy became the foundation for a larger story about what technology can be when its purpose is not simply to disrupt, but to improve the world.
'I wanted to make a film about technology whose purpose is not simply to 'disrupt the world,' but to improve it,' Wilson says. 'At a moment when so much of our technology makes us fear the future, I wanted to make a film that lets us feel something increasingly rare: hope.'
The film also explores the deeply personal story behind Hull's invention. There is no mythology of a solitary genius or cult of personality. Instead, The Last Inventor portrays Hull as a quiet, persistent engineer who believed in an idea that did not yet exist — and the wife who believed in him.
Chuck and Anntoinette Hull took a risk on an idea more than 40 years ago. The first ripple was almost imperceptible. Today, those ripples can be seen across medicine, housing, manufacturing, aerospace and countless other fields.
A Technology Story Told Through Human Stories
The Last Inventor brings together innovators, physicians, engineers, artists, patients and families whose lives and work illustrate the continuing impact of Hull's invention.
Among those featured are the late Pope Francis, Jason Ballard, CEO and co-founder of ICON; Jonathan Ladouceur, VP of Engineering and Robotics Systems at ICON; Mat Bowtell, founder and CEO of Free 3D Hands; Sir Richard Taylor, co-founder and chief creative officer of Wētā Workshop (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit); Dr. Martine Rothblatt, CEO of United Therapeutics and founder of Sirius Satellite Radio; Andy Christensen, a pioneer in medical 3D printing; Katie Weimer, CEO and Co-founder of GenesisTissue; neurosurgeon Prof. Ralph Mobbs; reconstructive surgeon Dr. Joel Berger; and engineers from 3D Systems, Operation of HOPE and other organizations working at the forefront of additive manufacturing.
The documentary also gives a human face to the technology through people whose lives have been directly changed by 3D printing, including recipients of 3D-printed prosthetic hands, patients who have benefited from patient-specific medical devices, families confronting complex medical challenges and athletes whose injuries required innovative reconstructive solutions.
The film's scope extends from homes and prosthetics to medicine, filmmaking, fashion, coral reefs, rockets and space exploration — demonstrating how one invention has continued to evolve in ways its creator could never have predicted.
About Director Brent Wilson
Brent Wilson is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker whose work combines character-driven storytelling with cinematic scale and emotional depth.
After directing music videos for artists including NSYNC, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, Wilson transitioned to documentary filmmaking, where he developed a focus on character, history and American culture.
His first feature documentary, A Gathering of Heroes: The Last Reunion, aired on PBS and earned an Emmy nomination.
Wilson's acclaimed film Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, a deeply personal portrait of The Beach Boys' founder, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, won multiple festival awards and was released theatrically by Universal Pictures before airing on PBS's American Masters.
He also executive produced the Emmy-nominated docuseries 72: A Gathering of Champions for Peacock and the Netflix documentary Miracle: The Boys of '80.
With The Last Inventor, Wilson turns his lens toward an unlikely technology pioneer and the human consequences of one seemingly simple idea.
Shot in 8K anamorphic and featuring a score performed by a 40-piece live orchestra, the film is designed not simply as a history of 3D printing, but as a cinematic portrait of persistence, imagination and the possibility that technology can be a force for good.
About Executive Producer Ray Marchant
Ray Marchant is a producer and writer with more than 40 years of experience in film, television, and live entertainment.
As executive producer, producer, and co-writer of The Last Inventor: Chuck Hull & The Hope of 3D Printing, he guided the documentary from concept through completion, securing financing, shaping its stories, and overseeing production. With director Brent Wilson, he developed its distinctive visual approach using virtual production and 2D and 3D animation.
Previously, Marchant served as Executive in Charge of Production, Chief Financial Officer, and a board member at iCandyTV, helping build its full-service television development and production operation.
About Executive Producer Mark Ciardi
Mark Ciardi is a film and documentary producer known for bringing inspiring true stories to the screen. His credits include The Rookie, Miracle, Invincible, Secretariat, McFarland, USA, American Underdog and A Million Miles Away.
His documentary work includes the Emmy Award–winning ESPN 30 for 30 film Big Shot, 42 to 1 and Peacock's 72: A Gathering of Champions. Founder and CEO of Select Films, Ciardi previously held a 12-year first-look deal with Walt Disney Studios and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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