“Video games are for loners.” “Video games cause violence.” “Game development is not a ‘real’ career.”

If you’ve ever struggled to communicate to your mother, father, brother, sister, or significant other why these claims are false and why you enjoy video games so much, a new movie out this week could be just the solution you’re looking for. Video Games: The Movie, launching tomorrow in theaters and through digital platforms, is not the first documentary about our beloved past time, but it sets itself apart from the pack by offering a (nearly) all-encompassing take on the industry. It is this broad nature (unlike movies like Indie Game: The Movie or King of Kong that focused on a single topic) that director

GS: There was another component of the movie…you do have a segment on violence in games. Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton and everything. It was a pretty short segment, and it may have come across as a little defensive, which I think we’re all guilty of sometimes. Can you walk me through how you approached this particular segment and why you filmed it the way that you did?

JS: I’m probably a little bit biased on that section because I just feel like it’s such a cliché. Essentially, in the games industry every time a new Grand Theft Auto comes out, it’s almost like there’s some kind of briefing at all the different media news stations and media companies who say ‘Oh, when GTA comes out, be sure to talk about the violence issue and bring up these four bullet points’ [laughs]. It’s so tired. And so what I wanted to do was give a platform in the film for the other side of the coin. I feel like we’ve heard the one side of the media coin of the violence piece for 20+ years, but there’s not really been something in a major film that lets the industry say, ‘Well, here’s the reality of the situation. Here’s what we think.’ And I have had some people who say that it’s a little one-sided, but I feel like the reality of the press the past 20 years gives the other side and people know that side all too well.

GS: You also made this movie kind of out in the open, in a non-traditional way, where you went to Kickstarter for some additional funding there. How did you balance listening to fan feedback and putting that in the movie with what your original vision was for the movie?

JS: That was tough as well. The community, listening to people…that was probably one of the hardest parts of making the film. As you know, gamer nation is very vocal. Everybody’s got thoughts and ideas of what they think would and should be in a film like this. I think probably one of the biggest pieces of feedback that we did take to mind was having some European and Asian developers [appear in the movie]; and we could dive into all of UK game development history with a whole other film, or the Pacific Rim. But through that, we did target people like Hideo Kojima, Peter Molyneux, and tried to pad in those voices in the film. We did have a fair amount of people ask about education in games; ‘serious games,’ that whole thing. We tried to [incorporate] as much of that as we could, talk about kids being the future of the industry. But again, it’s tough stuff to hear everyone’s voice and get it all worked in and not be a four-hour film.

GS: Video games are obviously a constantly evolving medium, but this movie, the way it is now, is going to last forever in its current iteration; there’s no DLC or expansions for movies. Does it worry you that in 5 to 10 years your movie is going to feel less relevant or do you think the themes are timeless?

JS: Even towards the end the editing process, we were in a position where we had melting ice cream in our hands. Because the industry moves so fast with new games and new technology. I feel like game industry is more progressive and changes faster than the film and music industries. So the short answer is yes, I did feel that–we did feel that–but we tried to get as much to the bleeding edge as we could with Oculus and Omni and what’s happening with indie games. And hopefully there will be follow-ups in the future.

GS: I didn’t realize at first, but Zach Braff is a producer on this movie. How did he become attached to this movie and what does he bring to the movie?

“Towards the end the editing process, we were in a position where we had melting ice cream in our hands. Because the industry moves so fast with new games and new technology” — Jeremy Snead

JS: Zach Braff came through about halfway through our Kickstarter; he came on and donated $10,000 to our campaign, which just blew us away. And initially, [we thought] well that’s just going to be sort of in name only; he’s probably really busy and doesn’t want to be an active executive producer. But he actually got in touch; I flew out to LA and met him and we had lots of different talks about the film and our goals for it; he gave input and then we asked him if he would be in the film and he said yes, so we shot an interview with him asking him all of the questions relevant to the film. So yeah, he’s just been a real cheerleader for us and just his celebrity name alone has kind of helped to elevate the profile of the film, which I’m thrilled about. Because that was one of my original goals [for the movie] was to get it a really wide audience; not just a niche audience.

GS: Another celebrity attached to the project is Sean Astin (Samwise from Lord of the Rings; Rudy in Rudy; Mikey in The Goonies). I love his work. What would you say he brings to the movie?

JS: Sean, just briefly the story on that; I had pursued him for an interview because I know he’s a gamer. And when we shot his interview, after that interview, he and I had dinner for like 3.5 hours and I told him about the film and what I wanted to do with it; and through some course of events, he became very interested and invested in the film and we talked him becoming the narrator. So it sort of happened organically. But now that I look back on it, I think what he brings to the film is that range that we’re talking about; reaching a wide audience. Sean Astin is someone that I feel like our parents, aunts, and uncles know and think ‘Oh, he’s a good guy. Wholesome. Goonies. Rudy. Lord of the Rings. But he’s also a guy who also has geek cred [laughs]. He’s one of the few people who could bridge that gap and gamers and the geek/nerd audience would accept him. But he’d also be known and accepted by a wider, older audience.

Video Games: The Movie launches in 30+ theaters across the US tomorrow, July 15, and you can also buy the movie through iTunes and other digital formats.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com