By Kevin Kelly
Movies about geeks have never been particularly flattering. Even in films like Revenge of the Nerds where the nerds win the day, there is plenty of dramatic license taken to make them badass so they can win the girl. But stories that cut to the heart of geekdom and reveal what true nerdery is all about? Those are extremely rare. It's even rarer when you find yourself pulling for the geek at the heart of those stories, despite everything else.
Luckily this year at SXSW we stumbled across Zero Charisma, a film about a gamemaster struggling to keep his RPG campaign alive after losing one of the main players. But problems arise when he has to battle with the replacement for popularity, and his world begins to unravel. The entire movie hinges on the fantastic performance of Sam Eidson as Scott Weidemeyer, and while he might seem a bit over the top,...
Movies about geeks have never been particularly flattering. Even in films like Revenge of the Nerds where the nerds win the day, there is plenty of dramatic license taken to make them badass so they can win the girl. But stories that cut to the heart of geekdom and reveal what true nerdery is all about? Those are extremely rare. It's even rarer when you find yourself pulling for the geek at the heart of those stories, despite everything else.
Luckily this year at SXSW we stumbled across Zero Charisma, a film about a gamemaster struggling to keep his RPG campaign alive after losing one of the main players. But problems arise when he has to battle with the replacement for popularity, and his world begins to unravel. The entire movie hinges on the fantastic performance of Sam Eidson as Scott Weidemeyer, and while he might seem a bit over the top,...
- 5/3/2013
- by kevinkelly
- MTV Multiplayer
Los Angeles — A documentary producer who worked with Leonardo DiCaprio on the environmental film "The 11th Hour" has been found dead.
Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter says Brian Gerber's body was recovered Wednesday morning after being found near a vehicle that plunged from a mountain highway northeast of Los Angeles.
Winter says his death is being investigated as a possible suicide. Gerber had been reported missing over the weekend.
The 41-year-old's film credits include "The Dungeon Masters," which focused on three Dungeons and Dragons game devotees. According to a biography on his company's website, Gerber worked with the band R.E.M. and has worked on several music documentaries.
He also co-founded a series of conferences titled "Digital Hollywood."
He is survived by his wife, actress Arabella Field and two young sons.
Coroner's spokesman Ed Winter says Brian Gerber's body was recovered Wednesday morning after being found near a vehicle that plunged from a mountain highway northeast of Los Angeles.
Winter says his death is being investigated as a possible suicide. Gerber had been reported missing over the weekend.
The 41-year-old's film credits include "The Dungeon Masters," which focused on three Dungeons and Dragons game devotees. According to a biography on his company's website, Gerber worked with the band R.E.M. and has worked on several music documentaries.
He also co-founded a series of conferences titled "Digital Hollywood."
He is survived by his wife, actress Arabella Field and two young sons.
- 8/30/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
The Los Angeles Police Department is searching for Brian Gerber, a film producer and co-founder of the Digital Hollywood summits who went missing on Monday, Lieutenant Menza of the Lapd's Northeast Division told TheWrap. It is suspected that Gerber may have committed suicide. Gerber, 41, has spent much of his career in Hollywood producing documentaries such as "The Dungeon Masters" and "The 11th Hour," a documentary on global warming that Leonardo DiCaprio co-wrote, produced and narrated. He also co-founded the Digital Hollywood conference series through his Gerber/Rigler production company. His family and friends posted...
- 8/29/2012
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
This week's indieWIRE-curated selections on Hulu's Documentaries page turns to the world of non-fiction for Halloween costume inspiration. These docs feature vampires, superheroes, monsters, elves, Stormtroopers and more. The three "Dungeons & Dragons" fans featured in Keven McAlester's fascinating "The Dungeon Masters" find entertainment, community and escape by creating and inhabiting worlds of fantasy--or at least, they used to. In this Toronto and SXSW selection, one of the subjects is ...
- 10/28/2011
- Indiewire
Following a trio of tabletop role-playing-game enthusiasts, Keven McAlester’s documentary The Dungeon Masters turns on the pat irony that three people in control of their fantasy lives aren’t in control of their real ones. Though it opens at GenCon, the annual gaming convention in Indianapolis, and occasionally shows its subjects presiding over character sheets and 20-sided dice, the film doesn’t show much interest in the rules of Dungeons & Dragons or other RPGs, and only takes a cursory glance over the worlds they create. In one sense, that’s limiting: Understanding the creative investment dungeon masters have in ...
- 8/11/2010
- avclub.com
The Dungeon Masters is a documentary that could have very easily fallen into mocking its subjects. The Dungeons and Dragons and live action role playing communities are made up of socially awkward, emotionally damaged, and sometimes mentally handicapped individuals. There were moments throughout the film when I admittedly laughed and looked questioningly at my husband as if to ask, “Are these people for real?” By the end of the film, however, I had empathy and understanding for these people who choose to live life a little too much in their fantasies.
The Dungeon Masters follows Richard, Elizabeth, and Scott, three Dungeons and Dragons dungeon masters, over one year’s time starting at the 2006 Gen Con and ending with the 2007 Gen Con. During that time, they face everyday challenges like paying their bills, looking for work, and dealing with significant others who are sometimes frustrated with the amount of time they spend gaming.
The Dungeon Masters follows Richard, Elizabeth, and Scott, three Dungeons and Dragons dungeon masters, over one year’s time starting at the 2006 Gen Con and ending with the 2007 Gen Con. During that time, they face everyday challenges like paying their bills, looking for work, and dealing with significant others who are sometimes frustrated with the amount of time they spend gaming.
- 8/10/2010
- by Rachel Kolb
- JustPressPlay.net
I'm the nerdiest guy I know, and Dungeons & Dragons is too nerdy for me. I once tried it with some friends on a camp trip and it didn't take; after about a half hour we gave up and went back to quoting "Mystery Science Theater 3000." But for some, D&D is everything, and certainly as a guy with nerdy proclivities, I can relate to that obsession. So I was curious about Keven McAlester's "The Dungeon Masters," a documentary about at trio of D&D game masters and the ways in which their real lives reflect their game lives and vice versa. Did the film, which played the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, deserve wider acclaim and a larger release? Let's find out.
The Dungeon Masters
Directed by Keven McAlester
Tagline:"3 People. 1 Obsession. See What Happens When Fantasy Life Meets Real Life."
Tweetable Plot Synopsis: Three gaming nerds share their love of...
The Dungeon Masters
Directed by Keven McAlester
Tagline:"3 People. 1 Obsession. See What Happens When Fantasy Life Meets Real Life."
Tweetable Plot Synopsis: Three gaming nerds share their love of...
- 8/3/2010
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
The Disappearance Of Alice Creed- Giveaway
Forget about Clash of the Titans, don’t bother with Prince of Persia, and by all means take a pass on Quantum of Solace. The one film that showcases the wicked power of actress Gemma Arterton is The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
While I don’t know what I can or can’t say before the film opens next week, August 6th, I don’t think anyone will have a problem with me saying that you ought to seek this film out and watch a movie that is the perfect answer for a time of the year when you get nothing but ho-hum releases. Truly, a movie that delivers on being both exciting and thrilling,...
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
The Disappearance Of Alice Creed- Giveaway
Forget about Clash of the Titans, don’t bother with Prince of Persia, and by all means take a pass on Quantum of Solace. The one film that showcases the wicked power of actress Gemma Arterton is The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
While I don’t know what I can or can’t say before the film opens next week, August 6th, I don’t think anyone will have a problem with me saying that you ought to seek this film out and watch a movie that is the perfect answer for a time of the year when you get nothing but ho-hum releases. Truly, a movie that delivers on being both exciting and thrilling,...
- 7/30/2010
- by Christopher Stipp
With a new Blonde Redhead release on the horizon, I decided to re-visit "The Dungeon Masters" after a conversation with the film's editor, Christine Khalafian, who kindly reminded me that the NY trio scored it. The doc, which centers on three hardcore D&D players and their troubles during the economic crush of 2008 is getting an expanded edition DVD release August 3 too. You don't have to own dice with more than six sides, have a thing for chicks with elf ears, or have Blonde Redhead on your iPod to appreciate this film and the exceptionally strange people it follows either.
I asked director Keven McAlester why he approached Blonde Redhead to do the score, hoping to reveal some secret Larp coven they all rolled with but the choice had more to do with a fan seeking a band he loved to create the right mood for a film that treads...
I asked director Keven McAlester why he approached Blonde Redhead to do the score, hoping to reveal some secret Larp coven they all rolled with but the choice had more to do with a fan seeking a band he loved to create the right mood for a film that treads...
- 7/28/2010
- by Brandon Kim
- ifc.com
When I first moved to NY there was this cafe I immediately fell in with on Mott and Prince that made such a tremendous cup of coffee, to this day, I measure every one I have against their brew. Everyone would talk about how the place was Blonde Redhead's hangout.
They'd say it in that way people say things when they know they're dropping something cool on you, letting you in on a little inside information. I heard different unsubstantiated things; they wrote their songs there, they lived upstairs, they played there in their jammies at night when the doors were locked.
I'm sure there was some truth to it originally, but by the time I was taking up tables there it was all mistaken identities I think. For all I know, someone saw me there one day, thought I was Kazu Makino, told the next guy over and on it went.
They'd say it in that way people say things when they know they're dropping something cool on you, letting you in on a little inside information. I heard different unsubstantiated things; they wrote their songs there, they lived upstairs, they played there in their jammies at night when the doors were locked.
I'm sure there was some truth to it originally, but by the time I was taking up tables there it was all mistaken identities I think. For all I know, someone saw me there one day, thought I was Kazu Makino, told the next guy over and on it went.
- 7/26/2010
- by Brandon Kim
- ifc.com
Trekkies, The King of Kong and Trekkies II are some of my favorite documentaries. I must have seen them around 20 times each. I'll even put them on in the background while I'm working. It's not the subject matter that fascinates me, it's the people in the documentary. I am fascinated by geek culture. I could watch a documentary like Trekkies and King of Kong for hours on end. Obsessed fans of whatever thing they're into, for some reason, grab my attention. Most of these people are the most socially awkward, nerdiest dorks you could find and for some reason I want to watch them go about their daily lives. I don't know if it's pity or jealousy that draws me to these documentaries. I guess it's a little bit of both. I pity them because most have issues that they're trying to work out through their fantasy lives. Some just...
- 7/7/2010
- LRMonline.com
The story of three individuals who have built their lives around the role-playing game, “Dungeons And Dragons,” director Keven McAlester's documentary “The Dungeon Masters” is being released on Amazon VOD. The film, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, follows its protagonists as their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives and they find it increasingly difficult to reconcile their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game's imaginary triumphs. Keven ...
- 2/23/2010
- indieWIRE - People
The story of three individuals who have built their lives around the role-playing game, “Dungeons And Dragons,” director Keven McAlester's documentary “The Dungeon Masters” is being released on Amazon VOD. The film, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, follows its protagonists as their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives and they find it increasingly difficult to reconcile their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game's imaginary triumphs. Keven ...
- 2/23/2010
- indieWIRE - People
The story of three individuals who have built their lives around the role-playing game, “Dungeons And Dragons,” director Keven McAlester's documentary “The Dungeon Masters” is being released on Amazon VOD. The film, which premiered at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, follows its protagonists as their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives and they find it increasingly difficult to reconcile their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game's imaginary triumphs. Keven ...
- 2/23/2010
- Indiewire
More Spring Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Repertory Calendar]
[Jason Reitman's Favorites]
Over 85 films will be filing through arthouses and multiplexes between now and the end of April, but nearly triple that number will be accessible from the comfort of home, whether it's on demand, online or on DVD. Here's what will be hitting televisions, computer screens, Netflix queues and store shelves this spring.
On Demand
Once you get through the masterful six-hour "Red Riding Trilogy" currently available on demand through May, IFC Films and their Sundance Selects label have quite the collection of festival favorites available to beam directly onto your TV in the next few months. It starts on February 17th with the Festival Direct release of the acclaimed John Bryant comedy "The Overbrook Brothers," about two siblings who find out they're adopted, as well as the Sundance Selects release of "Flannel Pajamas" director Jeff Lipsky's multi-generational comedy "Once More With Feeling," starring Chazz Palminteri as...
[Repertory Calendar]
[Jason Reitman's Favorites]
Over 85 films will be filing through arthouses and multiplexes between now and the end of April, but nearly triple that number will be accessible from the comfort of home, whether it's on demand, online or on DVD. Here's what will be hitting televisions, computer screens, Netflix queues and store shelves this spring.
On Demand
Once you get through the masterful six-hour "Red Riding Trilogy" currently available on demand through May, IFC Films and their Sundance Selects label have quite the collection of festival favorites available to beam directly onto your TV in the next few months. It starts on February 17th with the Festival Direct release of the acclaimed John Bryant comedy "The Overbrook Brothers," about two siblings who find out they're adopted, as well as the Sundance Selects release of "Flannel Pajamas" director Jeff Lipsky's multi-generational comedy "Once More With Feeling," starring Chazz Palminteri as...
- 2/16/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The Dungeon Masters (2008, dir: Keven McAlester) An evil drow elf is displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A sanitation worker lures friends into a 'Sphere of Annihilation.' A failed super-villain starts a cable-access show involving ninjas, puppets and a cooking segment. These are the characters, real and imagined, of Keven McAlester's documentary The Dungeon Masters. Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, two men and one woman devote their lives to Dungeons and Dragons, the storied role-playing game, and its various descendants. As their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives, the characters find it increasingly difficult to allay their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game's imaginary triumphs. Soon the true heroic act of each character's real life emerges, and the film follows each as he or she summons the courage to face it. Along the way, The Dungeon Masters re-imagines the tropes of classic heroic cinema, creating an...
- 1/13/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Here's one of the cooler movie posters you'll see all year, and it's for a movie that most people probably won't see. That's not because the movie's no good, but because it's a documentary (which means limited release) and it's about Dungeons & Dragons (no further explanation needed).
The movie is called The Dungeon Masters, and it played last September at the Toronto International Film Festival and was part of SXSW last month, where it picked up the award for best poster design. That really shouldn't be a surprise.
So what's it about? Gamers, three of them in fact, who are followed by director Keven McAlester through their day-to-day lives and their gaming lives. That's the conflict: How does your real life not live up to the one you've created through multiple dice rolls.
Get a load of the poster, courtesy of Imp:...
The movie is called The Dungeon Masters, and it played last September at the Toronto International Film Festival and was part of SXSW last month, where it picked up the award for best poster design. That really shouldn't be a surprise.
So what's it about? Gamers, three of them in fact, who are followed by director Keven McAlester through their day-to-day lives and their gaming lives. That's the conflict: How does your real life not live up to the one you've created through multiple dice rolls.
Get a load of the poster, courtesy of Imp:...
- 4/1/2009
- by Colin Boyd
- GetTheBigPicture.net
One thing that flew under the radar at SXSW during the Film Awards was the poster competition, which was new to the festival this year. The winner ended up being the poster for Keven McAlester's D&D documentary, The Dungeon Masters, which manages to combine one of the iconic characters from the movie and a well-placed set of gaming dice. Click on the image below for a much larger version.
There's a terrific set of 60 other posters from SXSW films on Flickr, and you can check out the artwork for the runner-up, Objectified, as well as a slew of others. The Dungeon Masters has been flying under the radar since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but if you get a chance to see it I'd highly recommend it. Especially if you've ever rolled a 20-sided die and jumped for joy when you landed a critical hit.
There's a terrific set of 60 other posters from SXSW films on Flickr, and you can check out the artwork for the runner-up, Objectified, as well as a slew of others. The Dungeon Masters has been flying under the radar since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but if you get a chance to see it I'd highly recommend it. Especially if you've ever rolled a 20-sided die and jumped for joy when you landed a critical hit.
- 3/24/2009
- by Kevin Kelly
- Cinematical
Keven McAlester's second documentary The Dungeon Masters, which takes a look at three people who run Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, was at the Toronto International Film Festival this week. It could have easily been a comedic film, poking fun at people who are generally called geeks or nerds, but it ends up becoming an intimate glimpse of personalities and situations that are often touching and tragic. I sat down with Keven and talked to him about how he set about making this movie, how he got into documentary filmmaking and working with Lee Daniel, and how he was able to put together such a good look into the D&D lifestyle, despite havin ...
- 9/15/2008
- by Kevin Kelly
- Spout
One of my favorite things about film festivals is the chance you'll have at seeing something that you'd probably never come across otherwise when you visit the multiplex or browse your rental queue. When the Toronto International Film Festival schedule was released last month and I saw Keven McMcAlester's documentary about Dungeons & Dragons gamemasters, The Dungeon Masters, listed, I knew I had to see it. It wasn't that I'd seen Keven's earlier documentary about Roky Erickson, You're Gonna Miss Me, and wanted to see this, nor did I want to see what fine cinematography Lee Daniel had crafted for the movie. No, I wanted to see this one for the geek in me. H ...
- 9/15/2008
- by Kevin Kelly
- Spout
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