Despite the many correct and profound reflections on art and media the late, great Roger Ebert gave to the world, one he got incredibly wrong was about video games. He said, essentially, they can never be art; you can read his piece here. (Don’t judge him too harshly. He made a decent, if old-fashioned, argument.) The trouble, of course, is that the video game industry has been growing by leaps and bounds, creatively, technologically, and financially year after year to the point where video game “box office” eclipses theatrical film business by quite a large margin.

This is where filmmaker Jeremy Snead enters. He has made a documentary film entitled Video Game: The Movie which seeks to discuss and get to the bottom of how video games are received culturally, both within and outside of the gaming community. He believes gamers and the gaming industry are largely misunderstood and wants to look at the history, the culture, the creation, and the future of the medium. As you can see in the video, he spoke to a huge number of visionaries in the field and in the culture, including a lot of Nerdist friends and family, like Wil Wheaton, Alison Haislip, and Chris Hardwick himself. Snead has this to say about the film:

Video Games: The Movie is a feature length documentary which aims to tell the untold story of video games by an in depth look into not only how games are made, marketed and consumed by looking back at the industry’s history, current trends as well as the evolution of gamer culture. Where is the industry and the audience headed? Is it the same place? The entire story will be told through the eyes of game developers, publishers, and consumers. The film is not just another film about the games industry but will attempt something much more ambitious: the question of what it means to be a gamer, a game maker and where “video games” will be in 10, 20, even 100 years from now.

The film is done, and the initial Kickstarter goal of $60,000 for post-production costs has already been met. But, since there are still a few weeks left and quite a lot of good rewards available at all of the different pledge levels, we thought we’d feature it. The money from the campaign is going toward editing, licensing clips, scoring, narration, and motion graphics. Any money that goes beyond the amount asked will help make it the best film it can be. Rewards still available include digital downloads, DVD and Blu-ray copies, posters, t-shirts, screenings and Q&A tickets, soundtracks, and you can even be in the film or be credited as producer.

You can support independent film, documentary film, and video game culture all with one click of a mouse. And, you know, some typing of information. Interested? Click here to pledge.