Gamers Film Interview
Written by Charles Husemann on 11/29/2010 for
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Gamers Film
There aren't a lot of movies about video game players as to be honest the subject matter isn't necessarily the most exciting. Why would you watch a movie about a guy playing a video game, when you could actually play the game? Not only was there that issue but there is also the issue of treating the material and the people involved with respect as portions of the gaming population didn't exactly didn't roll perfect 18's in the social skill department. These were at least some of my questions when I got an e-mail from Ben Gonyo about his movie Gamer's, which covers the MMO portion of the market. Luckily Ben answered those questions in more in this interview.
Please introduce yourself and talk about how you came up with the idea for the movie?
My name is Ben Gonyo and I’m a filmmaker based out of Rochester NY. I directed a film called Gamers about what its like to play MMORPG games.
How much experience did you have with World of Warcraft before you started? Did you have any experience with any other video/computer games?
I played Warcraft 1 back when it was a RTS game. I stopped playing most games when I graduated college and began working in the TV industry. Mostly out of time. Growing up I played a tremendous amount of the Nintendo consoles.
From the trailers it looks like you touch on some of the other types of games. What else can we expect to see in the film?
I tried to cover a broad spectrum of MMORPG games not just WOW, although WOW is definitely the king of that jungle. I spoke with free2play games, Cryptic, Curt Schilling and RA Salvatore’s game for 38 Studios. As well as a couple companies that make peripherals such as 3D monitors which some gamers are excited for. Theres a fair amount of convention coverage as well which is always fun and wacky.
It seems like picking on nerds/gamers is fairly easy (Triumph the Comic Insult dog has done some legendary work in this area). Did you go down this road or did you go a different route in how you portrayed the people in the film?
Yes this is an easy road and I didn’t want to put any emphasis on it. There are funny moments but most of it is self depricating. I found Gamers a great bunch of people to hang out with and they are often willing to crack jokes about themselves and how they might fit into this nerdy stereotype as well. In that light I make fun of myself quite a bit as well because of how bad I am at the games or when I’m clearly overmatched in a game of WOW Minis.
There are obvious reasons to pick World of Warcraft but did you consider looking at other hard core MMO’s like EVE Online?
I did cover a handful of other games. About a half dozen altogether. WOW took the lead primarily because most people I interviewed it either played it or used to play it. It’s sort of the gateway MMO.
Could you talk about the process of making the movie? Is there a specific angle or theme that emerged as you filmed it?
I started doing interviews locally in Rochester NY. I then began traveling to conventions in Indy, LA and Boston. My whole thing was not to have a preconceived angle and just let players talk about their experiences good or bad. I wanted a casual viewer who may heard about these games to better understand them and the people that play by the end of the film. Good or bad.
Were you able to talk to any of the developers for the film?
Yes I made it a point of emphasis to speak with developers for the documentary. We interviewed Jeff Kaplan of Blizzard, Randy M of Cryptic, Joshua Hong of Gamersfirst, the team of Abandon Entertainment and 38 Studios.
Was there one person you met during the filming that had more of an impact than everyone else? Were there things that you thought you would see but didn’t?
A friend of mine named Alison told me about her close friend Kevin whom she never saw any more. She said that his involvement in WOW put a huge strain on the friendship.
Readers can watch the section for themselves on Babelgum.
There are a lot of people in your trailers being very open about the fact that they have lost sleep, jobs, and relationships. How hard was it to get people to open up about these choices they made? Are they aware of how society tends to view these kind of activities?
Not at all. People were very open and honest. Gamers are an open group, which made documenting them easier.
Inside the game, social interaction is the strength of the MMO genre. It is what makes it so compelling. The games can be rather boring without friends to pal around with in game. I talk about this in the film. When my guild disbanded I became very bored in game.
Outside of the game there are often not many social connections. In fact players often cut down time spent with real world social groups and replace that with in game social interaction, which can be unhealthy.
Are you still playing World of Warcraft or not? How high of a level did you reach in the game?
I’m not currently playing WOW. I readed mid 40’s when I stopped. I’m working on a new film now and have little time for games. I really enjoyed playing but none of my friends played so that cuts down on the fun of it a gerat deal. MMORPG are about online friendships. Without them the games tend to get boring quick. People on my server leveled too quicker for me or left for a different server.
Whats the biggest myth/stereotype about gamers that you feel your movie disproves? What myths does it re-enforce?
Disproves that gamers are unemployed, unhappy and locked away in their basement. It resnforces that many of them play too much and will admit it but also see little reason to stop. It’s a hobby they are extremely passionate about.
WoW is a big part of the movie. After all this time, WoW continues to dominate the landscape. What if anything do you think can surplant it?
WOW is like Nike. You think basketball sneakers you think Nike. You think MMO you think WOW. It is the crossover game. I don’t think other games will replace it but they will steal away players who become tired of WOW. Players that might want something edgier, or of a different theme.
What's the most important thing you learned in making the movie?
Making a feature documentary is a tremendous amount of work. Thousands of hours.
Why do you think people play these (and other types) of games?
They are for the most part casual, easy to learn, graphically appealing and interactive. They are an alternative to TV, movies or boredom. People enjoy the easy goals and the social interaction.
When can we see/buy the film?
The film is for sale at my site www.GamersFilm.com for only $10. A great stoking stuffer for this Chrismas. The site is home to many many documentary films about gaming and is growing eachg month. We also have a cool game inspired art blog. The film should be online and in Netflix by spring 2011.
We'd like to thank Ben for taking the time to answer our questions. Ben Berry contributed to this interview
Please introduce yourself and talk about how you came up with the idea for the movie?
My name is Ben Gonyo and I’m a filmmaker based out of Rochester NY. I directed a film called Gamers about what its like to play MMORPG games.
How much experience did you have with World of Warcraft before you started? Did you have any experience with any other video/computer games?
I played Warcraft 1 back when it was a RTS game. I stopped playing most games when I graduated college and began working in the TV industry. Mostly out of time. Growing up I played a tremendous amount of the Nintendo consoles.
From the trailers it looks like you touch on some of the other types of games. What else can we expect to see in the film?
I tried to cover a broad spectrum of MMORPG games not just WOW, although WOW is definitely the king of that jungle. I spoke with free2play games, Cryptic, Curt Schilling and RA Salvatore’s game for 38 Studios. As well as a couple companies that make peripherals such as 3D monitors which some gamers are excited for. Theres a fair amount of convention coverage as well which is always fun and wacky.
It seems like picking on nerds/gamers is fairly easy (Triumph the Comic Insult dog has done some legendary work in this area). Did you go down this road or did you go a different route in how you portrayed the people in the film?
Yes this is an easy road and I didn’t want to put any emphasis on it. There are funny moments but most of it is self depricating. I found Gamers a great bunch of people to hang out with and they are often willing to crack jokes about themselves and how they might fit into this nerdy stereotype as well. In that light I make fun of myself quite a bit as well because of how bad I am at the games or when I’m clearly overmatched in a game of WOW Minis.
There are obvious reasons to pick World of Warcraft but did you consider looking at other hard core MMO’s like EVE Online?
I did cover a handful of other games. About a half dozen altogether. WOW took the lead primarily because most people I interviewed it either played it or used to play it. It’s sort of the gateway MMO.
Could you talk about the process of making the movie? Is there a specific angle or theme that emerged as you filmed it?
I started doing interviews locally in Rochester NY. I then began traveling to conventions in Indy, LA and Boston. My whole thing was not to have a preconceived angle and just let players talk about their experiences good or bad. I wanted a casual viewer who may heard about these games to better understand them and the people that play by the end of the film. Good or bad.
Were you able to talk to any of the developers for the film?
Yes I made it a point of emphasis to speak with developers for the documentary. We interviewed Jeff Kaplan of Blizzard, Randy M of Cryptic, Joshua Hong of Gamersfirst, the team of Abandon Entertainment and 38 Studios.
Was there one person you met during the filming that had more of an impact than everyone else? Were there things that you thought you would see but didn’t?
A friend of mine named Alison told me about her close friend Kevin whom she never saw any more. She said that his involvement in WOW put a huge strain on the friendship.
Readers can watch the section for themselves on Babelgum.
There are a lot of people in your trailers being very open about the fact that they have lost sleep, jobs, and relationships. How hard was it to get people to open up about these choices they made? Are they aware of how society tends to view these kind of activities?
Not at all. People were very open and honest. Gamers are an open group, which made documenting them easier.
Inside the game, social interaction is the strength of the MMO genre. It is what makes it so compelling. The games can be rather boring without friends to pal around with in game. I talk about this in the film. When my guild disbanded I became very bored in game.
Outside of the game there are often not many social connections. In fact players often cut down time spent with real world social groups and replace that with in game social interaction, which can be unhealthy.
Are you still playing World of Warcraft or not? How high of a level did you reach in the game?
I’m not currently playing WOW. I readed mid 40’s when I stopped. I’m working on a new film now and have little time for games. I really enjoyed playing but none of my friends played so that cuts down on the fun of it a gerat deal. MMORPG are about online friendships. Without them the games tend to get boring quick. People on my server leveled too quicker for me or left for a different server.
Whats the biggest myth/stereotype about gamers that you feel your movie disproves? What myths does it re-enforce?
Disproves that gamers are unemployed, unhappy and locked away in their basement. It resnforces that many of them play too much and will admit it but also see little reason to stop. It’s a hobby they are extremely passionate about.
WoW is a big part of the movie. After all this time, WoW continues to dominate the landscape. What if anything do you think can surplant it?
WOW is like Nike. You think basketball sneakers you think Nike. You think MMO you think WOW. It is the crossover game. I don’t think other games will replace it but they will steal away players who become tired of WOW. Players that might want something edgier, or of a different theme.
What's the most important thing you learned in making the movie?
Making a feature documentary is a tremendous amount of work. Thousands of hours.
Why do you think people play these (and other types) of games?
They are for the most part casual, easy to learn, graphically appealing and interactive. They are an alternative to TV, movies or boredom. People enjoy the easy goals and the social interaction.
When can we see/buy the film?
The film is for sale at my site www.GamersFilm.com for only $10. A great stoking stuffer for this Chrismas. The site is home to many many documentary films about gaming and is growing eachg month. We also have a cool game inspired art blog. The film should be online and in Netflix by spring 2011.
We'd like to thank Ben for taking the time to answer our questions. Ben Berry contributed to this interview
About Author
Hi, my name is Charles Husemann and I've been gaming for longer than I care to admit. For me it's always been about competing and a burning off stress. It started off simply enough with Choplifter and Lode Runner on the Apple //e, then it was the curse of Tank and Yars Revenge on the 2600. The addiction subsided somewhat until I went to college where dramatic decreases in my GPA could be traced to the release of X:Com and Doom. I was a Microsoft Xbox MVP from 2009 to 2014. I currently own stock in Microsoft, AMD, and nVidia.
