I'm coming to you with an overdue update. It took a little longer than preferred because I wanted to have enough news to share with you.
But first, let's back up a bit, to almost a year ago.
Producer Mike was getting too busy to handle the project. As is standard practice in the indie film world, full-rate commercial work takes priority over garbage-rate movie work. It's understood when people have to take the better paying job. So he asked Producer Meghan to take over.
So I meet Meghan and is great, and a few meetings in she sat me down and patiently explained, line item by line item, that our current production budget (drawn up during the first attempt to film this show, in the before-times) was complete nonsense and nowhere near enough to make a movie of this scope. Car chases? Explosions? Gunfights? Was I completely out of my mind? She asked, kindly.
I explained how Gamers projects work. It's not Star Wars (yes, she's worked on Star Wars.) It's not a car chase in the traditional sense. Half of all the action takes place with minis on a game table. The gameplay is always a relief valve for the more ambitious scenes. Furthermore, I'm able to do a lot of stuff myself. I did another pass at the script and identified many places where we could replace a full shoot day and a crew of 20-30 people we have to pay and feed, with a one-man-band (me!) grabbing footage solo, unpaid.
So yes, I replied, I am completely nuts, and that's how we're going to pull this off.
3D Printing
One of the things I can do is make stuff. So our game mat gets printed trees and such. Our Cinematographer Doug actually came up with the idea that, in addition to "Game table" and "in-world" scenes, the table itself is a third layer of reality. Every Gamers project tries to bring something new to the table, and this concept does it literally as we supplement those expensive real-world shots with enhanced game table action.
Luna is concerned.
Tacoma Park
Now Producer Meghan is wonderful and this project wouldn't have happened without her. However, one gripe I have with her is she won't let me break the law while she's watching. This is very inconvenient for independent filmmaking. Securing a permit for filming in this park was tricky enough. Lots of insurance requirements and filling out forms and such. On top of all that they required a permit for filming with a drone. I don't remember the exact amount but it was in the thousands of dollars, enough for the whole production team to say no. I conceded, and said I would just have to let go of aerial shots for these scenes.
This past weekend, I drove to the park by myself, early on a weekday morning so nobody would be there.
The secret ingredient is crime.
SeaTac
Another sequence, that I'm building out of my own footage and things I found in the neighbors' trash, is an entire side quest to Washington DC. So, obviously, we need the cliché plane-taking-off shot. I hauled my camera and tripod to good ol' SeaTac international airport.
This, on the other hand, is completely allowed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Last Steps
Once I've once I’ve integrated this new material into the edit, we'll move on to the next parts of post production. The downside of doing things this way is we are trading time for money, and unfortunately that slows things down. Once the the fun of principal photography is over, the makeup gets washed off and the lights taken down, the crew goes home, and it's just me sitting at my computer for months. Sometimes other people sit at their computers for a few weeks to help with VFX and audio. But I promise I am dedicated to making this installment of The Gamers as good as I am able.
I'm super grateful to you all for making this happen.
Wow, thank you all for helping us get across the finish line! this campaign was a nail-biter for so many reasons and we're immensely grateful for the trust that you continue to put in us after so many years.
There are a few more minutes left in the campaign -- and the backer train will continue until you all get tired -- but we wanted to make sure that everyone is ready for what to expect next for The Gamers: Attack of the Pwns.
BackerKit will begin charging cards when the campaign ends. If your charge doesn't work, don't worry, we can fix it in the surveys.
We'll receive campaign funds in a few weeks, unlocking all of the pieces of post-production that we couldn't pay for without your help.
Editing will continue and VFX, music, sound mix, color, insert shots, and the rest of the tasks that make up a movie will begin.
The pre-order store will open, allowing late pledges for a limited time.
We're build and release backer surveys, which WILL include add-ons for the ZOE/DG back catalogue (films, books, games, minis, dice, modules, etc).
Backers at $250 and higher will receive messages from us to begin designing your cards.
We'll continue monitoring the tariffs situation. IF that improves, we'll try to unlock a few extra goodies.
There may be some kind of preview screening at Gen Con, although likely not the final, polished edit. Everyone at $10 and higher will get access before that preview, so you're the first to see it.
When the movie is totally finished, we'll send a special watch-it-first link to everyone at $10 and higher.
As soon as the film is finished, we'll start authoring DVDs and Blu-rays. All other rewards should already be in the manufacturing queue by then, including a run of discs in the EU for international backers.
When we have rewards in hand, we'll charge the shipping cost in backer surveys and begin fulfillment.
Some time after all rewards are sent, we'll release Attack of the Pwns to the public and set up a pre-campaign page for our final Gamers film, Revenge of the Myth.
But first, we're going to take well-deserved naps! This was one of our hardest campaigns and it's time for some rest and recovery.
BUT even before that, we'll be livestreaming in just a few minutes, so don't forget to join us on BackerKit or Twitch what is thankfully a celebration, rather than a death march. We did it! Thank you!
Just $10 apiece from each unpledged follower would instantly make this campaign a success. As always, crowdfunding isn't about who can give the most, it's about small actions from each of us that make a big collective difference. Right now, with almost 2000 backers already on board, we're 92% funded. We're so close!
As always, no matter what happens, thanks for your support, enthusiasm, and encouragement.
LIVESTREAM ANNOUNCEMENT
Join director Gabriel Gonda at 4pm for a special end-of-campaign livestream! We'll announce and embed it on BackerKit, or you can watch at https://www.twitch.tv/zombieorpheus.
Whether we make it across the finish line or not -- and at almost 90% funded we should -- a huge thanks to the entire community of Gamers fans who pledged and showed that there's still massive interest in this story, even after almost twenty-five years!
We're grateful to this community for your enthusiasm, support, and Glorion-style "encouragement" when the going gets tough.
But enough about funding. We have a trivia challenge to wrap up!
There are no more questions. We've dropped every question and now bragging rights are on the line!
Make sure you check your answers and answer every question RIGHT HERE, because the polls close at 5PM Pacific time. Need hints for some of the tougher questions? Get an eyeful at this link.
One more thing... we've decided to be generous, since we messed up on the "eye damage" question, and since one answer requires access to The Fartherall Companion. Everyone who gets 15/17 questions correct gets credit in the movie!
But really, check your answers. Make sure you didn't miss any questions. Once the contest ends, everything gets locked in.
NEW POSTER TEASER
Attack of the Pwns director Gabriel Gonda has been hard at work on a new poster, in the style of classic political thrillers. The following is an in-progress draft, but we're so excited that we just have to share!
The final version of this poster will be added to digital rewards at the $25 level and higher, in full print resolution. (And yes, you'll be able to print it at a whopping 27"x40" movie-size format!)
As we draw close to yet another photo finish (it'll be fine! (Probably (I hope... (🤞))), I just wanted to share with you all the road we took to get here. Some of this will be familiar to most of you, but I just wanted to offer a deeper peek behind the curtain, and a trip down memory lane.
Season 0
Sometime in 2015,Ben and I were in an elevator, descending from some meeting in downtown Seattle, when they pitched me the idea of The Gamers: the Series. The characters from the original Gamers (the original original. Gamers fans seem to be in two camps. Those who saw the 2002 short film, and are completely unaware of the rest, and those who think Dorkness Rising is the first one) are stuck in our world, and fish-out-of-water shenanigans ensue. Then we'd make a Leverage-style modern day heist series, with new players playing them. And it would all connect somehow. I didn't get it.
I directed it anyway.
The Shadow Menace
After I read the script for The Shadow Menace (and watched all of Leverage), I got it. We had a format, and a plan. We shot mostly on the PLU campus and it went swimmingly.
How do you do, fellow kids?
The premiere at Gen Con 2017 was amazing. The Gamers were back! We got to work right away on planning the next installment.
Then... The World Ended
As you may remember, there was a global health emergency a few years back. It derailed JQ4, which was already funded, but unable to shoot, which in turn derailed GTS. Even as things started to open up again, there were several false starts. We tried to get it going in 2022, to align with the 20th anniversary of the first film, but delays kept happening.
Washington FilmWorks
What finally broke through the logjam was getting support from our state film office. We successfully applied to a small budget incentive program that would cover part of the funding. Once that was in place, I was put in touch with some new producers (shout out to Meghan and Jonathan!) who grabbed the ball and ran.
Scouting
We got to work securing our locations. Fortunaely the government support gave us access to several shooting spaces, including Harbor Island Studios in Seattle
Looks like a real movie set!
We were all set, except for the two most challenging locations to find: forest roads we can drive cars on, and a sailboat.
I had a lead on the forest roads: a park in Tacoma that was a former housing development, and had overgrown roads.
No traffic.
The boat was more of a challenge. A sailboat is a big ask, and nobody we knew had something suitable. Plus, in the middle of winter, a lot of people have their boats put away for the season. In desperation I reached out to an old acquaintance, who put our request in their yacht club newsletter, and that's how we found Allen and his boat Afterglow.
Say hi to the Skipper
With these last pieces in place, we were good to go.
Shooting: October
Due to actor availability, we had to break the shoot up into two legs. This wasn't so bad for us, as on Gamers shows we usually shoot all the game table stuff first, so that worked out. We knocked out all the gaming scenes in 3 days in October.
Always bring backup dice.
Shooting: February
The bulk of our shoot took place in February, enduring cold weather outdoors, cold studios indoors, and night shoots.
Somehow, nobody fell in the water.
Today
And that brings us to now. It's been years of trying to get this made and we are so close! If you have friends who are interested, but haven't gotten around to pledging yet, now would be the time to remind them.
(obligatory campaign update)
Wow, thanks for a great day of pledging yesterday! With over $7000 in new pledges that came in, we've now raised 65% of our goal. However, we still need to make it to $145,000 in the next 51 hours to renew The Gamers.
But if you're here, reading this update, you know the drill (and yes, there are enough people following this project to fund us instantly, so we're hopeful that you'll join us before the campaign ends!)
We've also seen a few requests for rewards and features that already exist, so in case you missed it in the wall of campaign text, here are the details:
STLS for the minis — They're part of the $115 pledge level!
The Backer Patch – It's also part of the $115 pledge level!
Local shipping in the EU — If you are in the EU and you want the physical disc, pledge for the $50 level. We will manufacture and ship your disc from within the EU. That $50 level is designed to save EU backers boatloads of money on shipping and import fees!
