1,596
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$71,335
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on July 23, 2011.
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Our sincere thanks for helping us make Indie Game: The Movie!
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A digital copy of Indie Game: The Movie and Special Thanks in the credits.
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An Indie Game: The Movie DVD, a digital copy of the film and Special Thanks in the credits. Includes shipping.
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An Indie Game: The Movie T-Shirt, a digital copy of the film and Special Thanks in the credits. Includes shipping.
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An Indie Game: The Movie T-Shirt, an Indie Game: The Movie DVD, a digital copy of the film and Special Thanks in the credits. Includes shipping.
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An Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DVD, a digital copy of the film, and Special Thanks in the credits. Includes shipping.
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An Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DVD, a digital copy of the film, a T-Shirt and Special Thanks in the credits. Includes shipping.
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A DVD copy of the educational version of Indie Game: The Movie - which comes with a limited public performance license that allows classroom use, on-campus screenings, creative meet-ups, and other non-commercial showings. (Does your group qualify? Please message us.)
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All of the above, an Executive Producer credit for the film and many, many thanks!
Project By
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James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot are producers/directors/editors/cinematographers behind the production company, BlinkWorks Media.
For the past year, they've been traveling North America filming indie game developers and editing their stories for Indie Game: The Movie, the feature film and the website.
Prior to this project, Lisanne and James produced TV series' for CBC in Canada, corporate videos, and commercials.
Hi Adam,
We're sorry to make you feel slighted in receiving unannounced, unexpected rewards of a free game, soundtrack and an extra version of the film to share with a friend (if you choose). That’s not bad for a $15 preorder, we think. In truth, we just thought it would add a little extra value and that it was a nice thing to do. Your reaction is kind of the exact opposite of our intention. Not too sure what went wrong there.
-james
Why are the extra rewards for the backers so... useless? Movie: finally. Soundtrack: great. Gift code and Super Meat Boy: who the hell thought of that? Giving me something with the sole purpose of me giving it to someone else makes me feel like you see me as a cog in some grand marketing plan where I spread your work for you. If I get extra stuff, I want it to be for me. Giving me something I can gift to someone does not even come close to making me feel like I'm getting anything special. As for Super Meat Boy? If I didn't already have it, I would probably have less of a problem with that, but I have to ask why you chose to give out codes to a game that your particular audience likely already owns? This feels once again like a sly attempt at marketing as I (and possibly many others) can really only truly use the code as a gift to someone without it. I just feel slighted, I guess. I heard I would get a bunch of special things only to find that they're not really so great.
Just a personal note from my side: I love the whole IGTM project and I don’t see any reason to complain about how Lisanne and James are treating their backers. Their efforts are exceptional and I’m a little bit proud of myself having realized their full potential in an early stage of the production. That is – for me – what it’s all about. Not getting blessed for throwing in some money over and over again. To give others the opportunity to enjoy IGTM the same time (or even earlier) than me is nice for them and not a big deal for me. My point is: I guess we are all in this to make it happen, not to save money or time or what so ever. To accompany Lisanne and James during the making und release of their film is – again: from my personal perspective – rewarding enough. Thank you!
Hmmm Hey Alec (& Melanie), you should've received an email 3 hours before everyone else. We didn't issue a KS update because that would've added to the email pile. We didn't want to get too spammy.
But everyone from KS should have received an email detailing additional rewards (beyond the KS rewards), and letting you know the release date. Perhaps check your spam folder.
I can understand your frustration to a point.
However, we have always stated that the film would have a theatrical and screening tour. We tried to keep it as tight as possible. And we have. Normally a film premiering at Sundance, would not *hit theaters* until Oct/Nov and then wouldn't see a release until January.
We are moving along at a VERY aggressive schedule. And we're two people.
And in terms of receiving the film early. That would be fantastic if we could reasonably swing it. We have never stated that KS backers would receive an early copy of the film. We knew we couldn't reasonably offer that (Fun fact: The number 2 search that brings people to our site is 'indie game the movie + torrent').
It's this type of thinking that caused us to structure our rewards like we did. It was very important to us to structure it like a 'Pre-Order' and not like a donation. We didn't want people to look at the campaign as charity.
We appreciate all the support and we’re sorry you’re not feeling good about helping the film. But I’m not too what else, beyond our thanks, the reward, extra bonus rewards, and the fact that the film actually exists and is something that I think you’ll really really enjoy.
Hopefully, one day after June 12th, you’ll sit down, watch the movie and feel good about it again.
We do really appreciate you’re support! Thanks for helping make this happen.
....but, yeah, check your spam folder (there’s goodies & a pre-announcement in there)
Take Care,
James
Like Melanie, I too feel disappointed, and reading back through the comments it's pretty clear we're not alone.
I imagine there are constraints on how and when you can deliver the movie, possibly contractual, possibly based on concerns about leaks. But frankly, it's incredibly disappointing that the backers haven't been treated any differently than random Joe Public. In fact, the first information I received about the movie being available was an Email offering the entire world the opportunity to buy the movie on iTunes and Steam. That was kind of insulting.
At this point, I'm so disenchanted by this project I don't know whether I'll be able to watch it without feeling angry and frustrated. That in turn pisses me off, because I badly want to watch the movie but not if it makes me feel bitter. This all may sound very melodramatic, but it's how I feel, and I don't think this is due to a sense of entitlement. I think it's because the people who backed this movie obviously love indie games, and gave from their hearts. To not see any love in return is disappointing. Very disappointing.
I'm a little disappointed that I don't get it until general public release - after all of the screenings (not in my state) and festivals (which I don't begrudge!) I'm still at the same privilege as it were as anyone else stumbling over here on June 12th. I would have liked to see (as is common with most kickstarters) that backers were taken care of first. Still happy to have a definite date finally though.
Wooh! Going to the screening in Auckland tomorrow! Can't wait! My friends and I were so stoked when we found out IG:TM is coming to town!
Ha! No worries, I was actually going to holler it out, but my wife would have probably left me at the theater, especially after I saw Jim Guthrie sitting there and was like 'Hey, I like your music'. We saw Jim perform the Sword & Sworcery soundtrack live and was blown away, definitely a fan. Anyways congratulations again on the huge success.
Thanks Jamie - glad you liked the movie. We did thank all the supporters out there, and people who helped make it happen. We did have 'Kickstarter' written down on our hands (seriously).
But honestly, it get really easy to forget stuff when up in front of 800 live people. We definitely, obviously value the Kickstarter support. We've thanked them publicly at every point up til them.
You may remember that in the thank yous we acknowledged our parents, because we forgot to thank them at the Sundance Awards. This is kinds the same thing ... but in reverse actually.
At Sundance we thanked Kickstarter Supporters and forgot our parents. We should be thanking both all the time, but things go pretty fast when you're up there.
But thanks so much for coming to the film. Hope you had a good time!
The movie was good. James and Lisanne were there to introduce it and I was a little surprised that there was no mention of their Kickstarter backers.
Just saw the Toronto premiere. Can't wait to see the DVD extras!
Very inspiring and very heartfelt film by the way. It's great to hear the game makers all got happy endings, along with the filmmakers :)
About to screen the Canadian premiere at HotDocs in Toronto!
I'd just like to chime in and say I'm happy to be a part – albeit a small part – in something that has been so well received and has launched to such success.
Congrats guys, and like Henrique said, take your time. I'll be here when it's ready. :)
Take your time guys. We are all VERY anxious to see the film (I know I am), specially the ones that don't live in the US and can't go to the screenings, but we should all be glad that IGTM is getting way more attention than anticipated and this is a very good thing.
Just don't keep us waiting too long after the screenings. We want to watch the masterpiece ourselves :-)
@Peter - Hi Peter,
Yes, unfortunately we're a bit past that timeline. But not too much. The film is coming soon. That timeline was based on the film premiering in the Fall of 2011. However, the film had the good fortune of being accepted to the Sundance film festival - which of course, is fantastic, but had the unfortunate side effect of shifting the release timelines.
(and not that it makes the wait any easier - but it also had the fortunate effect of making the film even better. Certain technical things needed to be done in order to prepare the film for the festival. So the delay, in a very real way, created a better end product)
We working really hard to get the film out as soon as possible. We're still just two people working on the film. There are A LOT of moving parts and small, but very important, things to line up in order to release the film properly. But it is coming together and the film should be out soon.
We're holding off announcing a hard date, until we are 100% certain that it won't move. We hope to have that announcement happen soon.
Thanks again for the early support. Sorry for the bit of delay. But it's coming. We're really looking forward to showing it to you!
-James
Early is over.
"Our goal is to release the DVD, the digital download, and the DVD educational version/license by the end of this year or very early in 2012.
The Special Edition will be release in early 2012. However, those backers will not be left in the cold and will receive a digital copy when the digital version / regular DVD is released."
@Terence Chua I feel the same way, I understand that IGTM probably hit a lot of legal bs when it went to Sundance, which caused a huge hiccup here... really unfortunate for us. But I am happy this avenue helped these guys get off the ground. It's going to hit the year marker from pledge to ship date ahhaha! :D Anyways all kickstarter frustration aside way to go IGTM, this feels like such a huge milestone for y'alls independent future!
@Terence
Hi Terence. We had always planned, stated and openly talked about the film having a screening and festival run prior to a DVD and digital release. I know it's a bit frustrating to know that the movie is out there and being watched. But we are working hard to roll out the film in the tightest, most logical & reasonable way possible. There are a lot of steps and moving parts to nail down in order to do a proper release. It shouldn't be much longer. As soon as we have a confirmed launch date, we'll be letting everyone know.
Thanks for your support. We're working to get you the movie as soon as possible.
-James
Just wondering why backers are last in line to watch it - After festivals and theatrical screenings?
Hi Jhon,
It's coming. We're still working on the distribution rollout.
We don't have any set dates just yet. Hope to soon. But in general, we plan to do the DVD & Digital release shortly after the screening / festival run.
We wrote a bit about the release details (no dates, but a little more info) over here:
http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/news/2012/1/3/ive-pre-ordered-whats-next.html
when can we have a digital copy of this film?
@Guillaume,
Hi Guillaume,
The original rollout is still (roughly) the plan. Though it may be pushed back a little bit. We still plan to debut with a festival, followed by a theatrical screening period, followed by the Digital and DVD releases.
It is looking like Digital & DVD (&S.E. DVD) will very likely end up being delivered in 2012. We are working on the release schedule right now, and as soon as dates are firm and we can announce, we definitely will.
In about a month or so, IGTM & the website should be pretty active with info :)
Take Care,
James
Hi guys,
I was wondering why you will screen the movie this fall in festival (as said in the project home) and wait until 2012 to send it to people who pledged it ?
Thanks for your answer !
Hey Michael,
Right now, we are firmly in the tweaking/finishing phase of the film. It should be ready quite soon. After that, we'll be moving on to the extra features, special edition content and the actual theater distribution/tour.
It's looking like backer copies might get pushed into 2012. There are still a lot of items up in the air. Once things get nailed down a bit more, we'll be able to announce hard dates.
Thanks for writing in, and thanks for your patience.
We're really anxious to get the film out there, but we want to make sure we do it the right way :)
It is coming though (...and it's looking pretty good!)
Take care,
James
Hey guys, what's the current timeline for completion of the movie, and distribution of Backer's movie copies?
Thanks so much everybody!
@Alistair - thanks for the nudge :)
Good luck, can't wait to see it!
I'm starting my own indie game project so I HAD to support this movie. Can't wait to see it. Hopefully I can learn some things from those that are already doing it.
Congratulations, you made it! Now good luck on all the things you have left to do!
I thought about donating all the time, and now roughly 15 minutes before it's over I did it. Love the idea, and can't await to see a movie about my favorite games!
Great project guys. Really looking forward to it. Indie games rule!
I felt I needed to donate $3 to make sure you hit 200% funded, you guys deserve it :)
elizabeth keenan...wow, I almost forgot to pledge. I have been following you two talented individuals since you started this project. It looks amazing. I cant wait to see the movie.
Good luck! Indie games forever!
Hey Philip, no problem at all. We totally know how it is. No worries. Totally appreciate the support on any and all levels :)
Sorry guys, had to downgrade my pledge to just the digital version for now due to bills and being a poor indie running our own Kickstarter at the moment. : ( Going to pre-order the special edition from the site in like two weeks legit though. Best of luck with the rest of editing, it's looking amazing so far.
Cannot wait for this ;)
Definitely looking forward on watching the movie! From Tijuana, Mexico, Thank you guys!
Hello!
I'm super excited about the movie! I've been working as a programmer for almost 10 years and I'm now studying to try my chances in the game industry (an old dream). Therefore, the documentary will be a huge inspirational source, specially because the game industry here in Brazil is totally in its infancy.
Thank you guys so much for your dedication in making this movie! :-)
Re: Digital Special Edition
Hey guys! I would like encourage you in doing a digital special edition! Laurens made a really good point! I have to agree that the step fro 15$ to 75$ is very big and though I would like to give you all the money I have, I can't. I'd totally go for a digital special edition for 30$-40$ though.
So about the file format. .iso is an option, of course. You could also do make a small program with a slick user interface that's gonna play one of the files when you select it(like a DVD menu). It's really not a lot of effort and really easy to deliver both on Macs and PCs (Linux too). What format are you actually planning to use for the normal version? .mkv is very powerful and you can have subtitles and and stuff like that but it's also not as easy to use as .mp4 Quicktime can't even play it (without Perian). Maybe do two seperate versions?
In any way, i'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product. Keep rocking!
-Giovanni
Hey Laurens,
That's a totally valid way of delivering the content. One that is in the mix. The only drawback though is that it does require a certain amount (not much, but a little) technical savvy. I know it sounds odd, but .ISOs and VLC can throw some people for a loop. We'll definitely keep it in mind though.
Thanks so much for the suggestion.
James
Re: digital special edition: I don't know exactly how you are planning on releasing the normal version (which file format), but technically you could release an .iso file for the spec edition, just the same image you use to master the physical discs. A lot of video players can play that format and still use the menus. A very good, free win/mac/linux compatible example of such a player is VLC ( on http videolan org)
Hi Mark,
Thanks! Yep, you can, at anytime in the Kickstarter campaign, adjust your pledge amount and reward selection. Simply log into your Kickstarter account, select your backed projects and it should be a relatively intuitive thing to do (I think).
Thanks again for the support and encouraging words - very much appreciate it!
Take Care,
-James
Hello! I'm really excited to see this! When I originally pledged, I went for the $40 pack, but after reading about the Special Edition, I'm regretting not kicking in the extra! Is there any way of paying the difference and "upgrading" to the special edition?
Thanks! And best of luck finishing it up. It looks great!
Hey David! That's awesome - thank you so much for the support - it means a lot to us. We'll do our best to make it well worth it, and then some!
We really appreciate it.
Thanks!
James & Lisanne
Money's been a bit tight, what with me being a freelance game journalist and all, but I finally managed to back this wonderful project. Looking forward to watching the film from start to finish! Super stoked about this!
@Laurens Thanks so much for the support, we really appreciate it. Doing a Digital version of the Special Edition is something that we are toying with. However, we need to come up with a way to elegantly deliver/package it. We really want to stay away from (and very likely will not) going with a messy .zip full of video files.
If we can dome up with a good solution, we would love to offer the S.E. in digital form. It's something that we're going to work on and keep in mind going forward.
But without having a solid plan in place, we're really hesitant to include it as a offering right now. We wouldn't want to offer it unless we were 100% positive we could deliver. Which, for the digital S.E. unfortunately we're not right now :(
Thanks again
-James
Hi! Very cool project! I'm currently backing you, but the Special Edition looks very cool. However, it's quite a step from $15 to $75 is quite big. Will you please add an +- $25-$30 option which is just a digital copy of the spec. edition? I'd get that instead immediately!
I'm really excited to see this movie. This is one of my favorite backed Kickstarter projects right now.
@Eric Yep! And it indeed will be :)
But that's Okay. Actually, if you think of the amount of cast/crew names on a normal Hollywood movie we have a sliver of a fraction of that (20 or so 'cast' and 3 'crew'), so we have a lot of leftover space - that we'd happily fill up with the people that indeed made this film happen.