Making a movie is easy. All you need to do is max out all of your credit cards, take out a bank loan and fit the first day of shooting in while your wife is giving birth to twins. OK, none of that is easy, but it's only part of what writer/director Chris Folino went through to bring his long-standing dream to fruition.\nFolino's movie, "Gamers," is about the lives of four hapless friends and their obsession with role-playing games. Much like the groundbreaking independent films dreamed up by Kevin Smith and Jared Hess, "Gamers" is based in a skewed reality built on Folino's personal experience. It's "Office Space" with a gaming twist, a movie that Folino said "will offend you in a good way."\nSomewhere in between scheduling his movie's world premiere, holding down a full-time job and fitting in time with his family, Folino managed to answer a few questions for the Indiana Daily Student:
IDS: How broad is the appeal of "Gamers?" Will someone who has never heard of a role-playing-game still be able to get the jokes and laugh their ass off?\nFolino: "Gamers" is a comedy that audiences will relate to the same way they did with "Spinal Tap." You didn't have to play an instrument to relate to "Spinal Tap." It's just funny. We do have some inside jokes for "Gamers." However, you don't have to be a gamer to get the movie.
IDS: "Gamers" boasts a cast that is 90 percent Screen Actors Guild. How did you arrange for actors like Beverly D'Angelo, William Katt and Kelly LeBrock to star in an independent film written by a first-time director?\nFolino: We wrote the script originally for some friends. However, as things got more serious, we knew if we were ever going to have a shot, we needed SAG actors, so we hired Michelle Metzner, who is a casting director for indie films. Also, the actors liked the scripts and we were only asking them to shoot for one day. We shot all of the 35MM footage in six days, which is about 90 percent of the movie.\nMy first Hollywood \nmeeting was with Kelly LeBrock and she asked, "Where would I have seen your work before?" I told her the truth, "Well, Kelly, if you go work for The Home Depot, I did a lot of the training videos that the associates have to watch."
IDS: What advice do you have for student filmmakers looking for contacts or exposure for their own projects?\nFolino: I think my advice to a student filmmaker would be to make some shorts and get them on the Web ... go get a cult following. If you want to learn how to make a movie, go get a video camera and make a movie. I made two features shot on video before I did "Gamers" and you don't need film school. You need friends and time. Make years of mistakes on video before you go wrestle with film; it's a different beast.
IDS: Do you have advice for writers looking to sell their scripts to Hollywood, or is being a writer/director the best way to go?\nFolino: I'm sorry to say the closest I ever got to selling a screenplay was in college when I wrote an episode for "The Simpsons." My college film professor told me that he was going to change my life forever and to meet him later that week. I thought, "Man, this is my big shot!" However, the only thing he offered was to sell Amway with him.
IDS: What are your future plans?\nFolino: I would love to direct a real "Dungeons & Dragons" movie. No jokes, no Wayans, just an incredible journey and adventure. That's what the game means to me and I'd like to honor it someday. I have no faith in the path that the franchise is heading right now.\nTo find out more about "Gamers," or to watch clips from the movie, visit www.gamers-themovie.com/.
