Former Escapist Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts hopes to raise $192,105 to produce a documentary series aimed at looking at the lives of the people who make video games.
People make video games. As simple a truth as that is, it’s something that can also be easy to forget. The game industry, after all, is nothing if not rife with big name publishers and famous development teams that can sometimes seem like people all on their own. At the end of the day though, there’s no getting around the fact that the games we play, whether they’re big or small, are made by people with homes, lives and stories.
Hoping to give gamers more of an insight into this reality, former Escapist Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts recently launched a a Kickstarter campaign aimed at producing a new web series that he’s dubbed Stage of Development. Intending to produce six initial episodes, the campaign aims to raise $192,105. This amount, according to the campaign’s breakdown, will be the minimum required to cover travel and shooting costs, backer rewards and Kickstarter’s cut of the funding. “I’m asking for a lot of money,” he said on the campaign’s page. “I’m asking for a lot of trust. I hope you agree that telling these amazing stories is worth a little of both.”
The big question, of course, is whether or not Pitts’ campaign will be able to reach its arguably lofty goal. With 20 days left and only $15,345 raised, it still has a ways to go. Whether or not it succeeds however, it’s likely that gamers will at least get a taste of what the project could be. To help demonstrate their passion for Stage of Development, Pitts and company have already begun production on the first two episodes, focused on Spry Fox and the family of John Romero, paying for their expenses out-of-pocket. Suffice it to say that we’ll be interested to see how those turn out and hope that Pitts is able to get the money he needs to finish the job.
Source: Kickstarter
