GameLoading: Rise of the Indies is a new feature-length documentary that investigates the growth in popularity of non-AAA games by independent studios, brought about by open distribution platforms, Kickstarter and other enablers.
Produced by StudioBento in Australia, the film has launched its own Kickstarter to fund the film's completion, aiming to raise $50,000 that can pay for, among other things, filming expeditions to various gaming events.
The team has thus far interviewed EA founder Trip Hawkins, Chris Avellone (Obsidian), David Helgason (Unity), Alexander Bruce (Antichamber), Luke Kuskat (Halfbrick) among other developers and commentators on the indie scene. (Note: Polygon's editor-in-chief Chris Grant has also been interviewed and appears in the film's Kickstarter video.)
"GameLoading aims to take a snapshot of the worldwide indie game subculture, by following the pioneers of indie development to see how they are changing the industry and even our views on what video games can be," states the Kickstarter pitch.
"We are gamers ourselves, excited by the creativity and innovation of the indie gaming subculture," it continues. "We want to make our film personal and holistic; indie developers at all stages of the process telling their own stories, in their own words."
The documentary will follow developers in Australia as they bring their projects to fruition, as well as interviews with established game-makers attending PAX Prime and IndieCade such as Colin and Sarah Northway (Incredipede), Jens Bergensten (Minecraft) and Kelly Wallick (Indie Megabooth).
GameLoading: Rise of the Indies follows the success of Indie Game: The Movie (2012) which looked in detail at projects by Phil Fish, Team Meat and Jonathan Blow as they struggled to bring their games to fruition.
