The landscape of independent film is changing, with many new ways to fund, create and distribute films. At the forefront of that change is Indie Game: The Movie, which chronicles the lives of four different men as they develop their games or deal with their success. The filmmakers, Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, were at the Yorkton Film Festival to talk about their experience.
The desire to make Indie Game started with a desire to make a larger project, something ambitious which the pair cared about a lot more than the commercial work they were doing at the time, Swirsky says. The project quickly became the center of their lives, and for the past three years it has been their sole focus. Swirsky says that they were confident in the film from the start.
Pajot says that the project started with a series of shorts for the Manitoba government on new media, one of which involved a game developer. Discovering the burgeoning art form lead to a desire to tell more stories on the subject.
"It was fascinating to us that you could have these teams that are just one or two people in a basement, in a small apartment, working on a project alone, creating this whole dynamic interactive world which is a game, and put it on the internet. At the time, digital distribution was just starting, you see it now a bit more but three years ago it wasn't as big as it is now."
Pajot says that they talked two about 30 developers and filmed with 12, though the three featured in the film were the ones with which they spent the most time. Those developers are Phil Fish, creator of Fez, Edmund McMillan and Tommy Refenes, creators of Super Meat Boy, and Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid.
"They're compelling people who share their experiences really emotively. They're artists, they're focused, and if this didn't work out you could say they lost three years on this project. There was a high stakes there, and we felt this way too, because at a certain point you get deeper, and deeper, and deeper into your project, and everyone around you is saying 'I don't think this is such a good idea,'" Pajot says.
Indie Game was one of the first major success stories of crowdfunding website Kickstarter, which allows creators to ask the public for money to fund their project, with the benefits for people based on the amount they donate. Pajot says that using the crowdfunding model helped make the movie possible, but it also added pressure, because now thousands of people around the world were interested in seeing the end result. Knowing in advance how passionate people can get about a project, Swirsky says, they thought the passion would be encouragement to do well.
"These people are yelling at Phil Fish because they want Fez out, but that's because they want Fez. So I think we were able to objectively look at that and say that is amazing that all these people are passionate about that. But then when you get into it, and are in Phil's shoes, and they're yelling at you, that negativity has a heavier weight," Swirsky says.
Pajot explains that the pressure of reaching that audience was also the reason they went to a different model of releasing the film. She notes that they had big distribution offers when they showed at Sundance, but they decided to go with a direct distribution online. The film has been offered by the makers themselves, digital distribution platform Steam, and the Humble Bundle, which is a charity fundraiser which offers games for whatever people want to pay. Pajot says that the self-distribution model made it the easiest way possible to reach as many people as they could, as people are more comfortable with digital distribution.
"Everything that we did was because we were inspired by what game makers were doing. Not only the guys in the film, but this whole community around them, people who are creating applications and software and sites, and ideas like the Humble Bundle. Just thinking outside the box, and thinking about different ways of selling stuff."
"Honestly, until a month or two ago or three months ago, I don't think the film industry understood how powerful that is, and how much opportunity there is there. We did an expansive case study on how we marketed the film, and we went on a speaking tour, but lately it seems like someone got the memo and now everybody wants to know."
The plan for the filmmakers is to release a special edition of the film with updates on the subjects as well as interviews with other developers. They also have a series development deal with Scott Rudin. Those interested in watching the film can purchase it at www.indiegamethemovie.com.
