GameLoading: Rise of the Indies is a feature-length documentary about "the vibrant global community of indie game creators." Production began in 2011, and a 2013 Kickstarter raised nearly $60,000 to help fund the project. Today the filmmakers released a brief look at what they've come up with so far, as they prepare to make a final push for post-production support.
The GameLoading preview focuses on the "Train Jam," a game jam that took more than 100 developers on a 52-hour train ride from Chicago to San Francisco, intercut with brief snippets of commentary from developers including Rami Ismail, Mike Bithell, Davey Wreden, Steve Gaynor, Zoe Quinn, and John Romero. The results actually look quite professional as-is, but there's still a lot of work left to be done.
"Post-production is expensive. But without it, GameLoading would look like a parents' home movie," the new "Final Push" Kickstarter pitch states. It clarifies that the project is going to be finished regardless of how this new Kickstarter works out, but without the additional funds it won't have the level of polish the filmmakers are shooting for. "Editing takes months, then there's color grading to make each shot look great, computer graphics and titles, game footage, archival footage, music, sound mixing and a whole lot of other stuff needed to bring the film to cinema quality."
Reflecting the slightly different nature of this Kickstarter, the minimum pledge is $15, essentially the purchase price of the film. It's also about as risk-free as these things get: The "Risks and Challenges" section of the Kickstarter notes that production delays are possible, but filming is complete and the March 2015 release date should provide "ample time" to finish the job.
The GameLoading "Final Push" Kickstarter is live now and runs until October 22.
