Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (commonly referred to as AVGN: The Movie) is an upcoming independent American comedy film based on the web series of the same name. James Rolfe, creator and star of the web series, is serving as director, producer and co-writer and reprises his on-screen role of The Nerd, a foul-mouthed video game reviewer. The film is expected to be receive a limited theatrical release in 2014 through film festivals before being released on DVD and possibly Blu-ray. The budget of the film came entirely from fan donations.

Plot summary
The story centers around the alleged Atari video game burial of over 1 million copies of the proclaimed "worst video game of all time", E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600, as The Nerd embarks on a quest to prove that there is nothing buried there after being pressured by fans to review the video game, while being pursued by federal authorities who believe he is investigating Area 51 and the crash of an unidentified flying object.

Cast

 * James Rolfe as The Angry Video Game Nerd
 * Jeremy Suarez as Cooper Folly
 * Sarah Glendening as Mandi
 * Stephen Mendel as General Dark Onward
 * Helena Barrett as Sergeant Molly McButter
 * Time Winters as Dr. Zandor
 * Matt Brewer as Young Zandor
 * Eddie Pepitone
 * Bobby Charles Reed
 * Nathan Barnatt as Keith Apicary
 * Jeremy Shada as Howard Nixon
 * Andre Meadows as Black Nerd Comedy (store customer)
 * Robbie Rist as Alien (voice)
 * Logan Grove as Bradley
 * Howard Scott Warshaw as himself
 * Malcolm Critchell as British Guy
 * Milynn Sarley as Hot Chick
 * Bear McCreary as Zombie
 * Doug Walker as The Nostalgia Critic
 * Lloyd Kaufman as Himself
 * Patrick Contri as Pat the NES Punk (Nerd protestor)

Development
Development of the film began in late 2006, following the popularity of The Angry Video Game Nerd web series, with the completion the screenplay by 2008. On September 23, 2010, James Rolfe released a video on his website detailing his plans for Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie to be released in the near future. Rolfe had spent much of his life aspiring to be a professional feature filmmaker, and saw popularity of the AVGN web series the opportunity to fulfill this dream. Rolfe's long-time friend and collaborator Kevin Finn co-wrote and co-directed the film. It is said to be in the vein of Wayne's World in the sense that it will be a movie about a person that reviews games, rather than a feature length review or multiple reviews adding up to a feature length. In his review of Steven Spielberg movie games, Rolfe hinted that he would be reviewing the infamous Atari E.T. video game in the movie. On June 20, 2011, a video was posted on Cinemassacre in which Rolfe confirmed that E.T. would be reviewed in the film. It was confirmed a second time in a video on January 11, 2012. E.T. game designer Howard Scott Warshaw hinted in an article in GamesTM magazine that he would be playing himself in the movie. This was later confirmed by a post on Cinemassacre's Twitter account on May 5, 2012.

Production of the film was delayed for several years due to the busy production schedule of Rolfe's AVGN web series, wherein Rolfe was continuously filming two episodes per month. This eventually caused Rolfe to suffer from creative burnout, causing him to slow down the production of the web series to allow time for the production of the film. Rolfe had initially planned to put the production of the AVGN web series on hiatus to allow him time for the production of the film, but eventually settled for making shorter, less time consuming episodes instead. Many episodes of the web series were filmed months in advance, so that they could be released during the creation of the film, and Rolfe arranged for his frequent collaborator Mike Matei to host and create content for the Cinemassacre website in Rolfe's absence.

In April of 2011, Rolfe traveled to Los Angeles to meet with Finn and producer Sean Keegan to speak with potential investors to secure funding for the movie. Upon finding no interest from traditional investors, the production team decided to fund the film independently, intending to budget the film with both fan donations via Paypal and private investors. On October 16, 2011, Rolfe launched another campaign on the fundraising website IndieGoGo (with an initial goal of $75,000). Fans were rewarded based on the amount they donated, with a $10 donation earning them a video thank you message from Rolfe himself and the highest donation of $200 allowing them to have their name in the end credits. Other rewards included a copy of the script, a behind the scenes video and Rolfe's autograph. By February 3, 2012, Rolfe raised $325,327 for the film's budget on the site, becoming the 2nd highest online, fan funded film of all time. Because the video was entirely fan-supported without traditional investors, Rolfe was allowed complete creative control over the film. Rolfe expressed appreciation for the large donations he received, as he was surprised by the unexpected cost of locations, effects, permits and taxes; "You hear about mainstream movies these days, they cost like 200 million dollars, I used to think that was crazy. Now I'm starting to learn why!"

On June 1, Rolfe released another video on his website, detailing more about his plans, also calling for casting, giving the contact information related to the movie. Open casting calls were held in Philadelphia and Dallas, Texas, with another casting call hosted by Channel Awesome held in Chicago, with live auditions held by Douglas Walker, the actor of The Nostalgia Critic (who will also be having a role in the film). Rolfe also held calls for special effects artists who specialized in the fields of miniature effects, animatronics and puppetry, as well as miscellaneous other roles as crew-members, agents, and promoters.

Filming
Filming in California started April 1, 2012, and wrapped on May 11, 2012. Additional scenes were to be filmed on the East Coast at a later date. Rolfe stated on an update posted May 25, 2012, that the film would be released "when it's done". He optimistically hoped he could finish by Christmas 2012 but thought that summer 2013 would probably be a more realistic estimate for the release date. Rolfe posted a photo of him wearing an updated Nerd costume. Actress Sarah Glendening also posted a set photo on Twitter, confirming her as the female lead, "Mandi". Composer Bear McCreary shot a walk-on cameo as a zombie. Actors Jeremy Suarez and Time Winters appeared in the film according to Sarah Glendening's Twitter Page. Suarez played the best friend/sidekick of The Nerd, "Cooper" (a pun on co-op) and has also posted an image of himself as a zombie. Milynn Sarley was also confirmed to have an unspecified role in the movie, which was later revealed to be a character named "Hot Chick." Her character is apparently a nymphomaniac. She was originally named "Mercedes" in an earlier draft. Nathan Barnatt has shot a brief cameo as his character Keith Apicary, after posting a set photo on his Instagram page on May 5, 2012, the same day Howard Scott Warshaw was on set. Actor Stephen Mendel confirmed on his Twitter account that he would be playing General Dark Onward in the movie. Doug Walker posted on his Facebook page that "some nerd" visited him with a request to do a quick cameo. Logan Grove was also been confirmed to be in the film, but in an unspecified role.

Additional scenes were being filmed in the actors' spare time, mainly in Philadelphia, with approximately one scene getting wrapped up every week. The movie was filmed on the Panasonic AG-AF100. As of January 9, 2013, Rolfe holds another call for miniature and model builders who reside in the Philadelphia area, or are to be there for the fabrication of said models, which include "miniature cities and models for an epic scene in the AVGN Movie that still has yet to be completed."

In March 2013, the construction of miniatures began in a studio in Philadelphia rented by the crew. The models will be featured in some of the most complicated special effects shots in the film. By March 27, the sets had been constructed. Shooting took place for one and half weeks.

On April 18, 2013, Matei posted an update video, in which Rolfe announced that the most complicated special effects shots had been done, and he decided that he could call the status of the film post-production even though he still need to get a few more, less complicated shots. Via the Cinemassacre Twitter, Rolfe had posted for several days about the special effects shooting. He revealed a couple of the miniatures that were to be used in the film, including what resembles one of the supporting pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge. Other miniatures were shown, including one resembling two sides of a black pyramid and a small castle lying farther behind it. For the film, they had to make a miniature version of the Nerd Mobile, the white van that the main cast travels around in for the film itself, but which also happened to be a production vehicle for transport of people and gear. One image in the update video shows the giant robotic-looking figure seen in the trailer, swinging the Nerd Mobile with one of its tentacles.

Post-production
Production of the film slowed down immensely during post production, as process on the film was delayed due to factors such as Rolfe returning to creating episodes of the AVGN web series and video updates for his website, as well as issues with his home life, such as the birth of his daughter. Various pick up shots were filmed on the West Coast for sequences which were unable to be filmed during principle photography due to time constraints, and a two hour long rough edit of the film was completed in late February 2013.

Bear McCreary, the composer for Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead, will compose the score for the film, having previously worked with Rolfe scoring the 2010 AVGN Christmas Special How The Nerd Stole Christmas. McCreary plans to incorporate elements of Kyle Justin's original AVGN Theme into the score, as well as create a new theme for the Nerd inspired by "The Raiders March".

James Rolfe chose to use mostly practical special effects for the film's visual effects, as opposed to Hollywood's growing use of computer generated imagery, instead created the majority of effect shots by filming miniatures in front of a green screen which were then later digitally composited into the film. Though this process was more time consuming than using CGI, Rolfe believed that the use of scale models would help add to the film’s B movie feel. By September of 2013, production was focusing on completing music and sound design, miniature effects shots, and several thousand shots which required CGI enhancement.

By October 13th 2013, visual effects work on the film was nearing completion; nearly all the films miniature effects sequences had been shot, though Rolfe reported he needed additional help to complete the films digital effects. In addition, James Rolfe asked for his fanbase to provide fictional webcam footage of themselves reacting to the Nerd's webseries to be used in a sequence at the beginning of the film which introduces the Angry Video Game Nerd character.

Release
Rolfe held a special screening of the trailer along with behind the scenes footage, on November 9, 2012 in the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, which is the same theatre where The Blob was filmed. At the event James announced that part of the ticket sales for the trailer premiere would go towards restoring the theatre, as he felt it was an important part of film history. Rolfe also used this event to announce that his wife was pregnant with their first child. The trailer premiere was privately screened at the GameTrailers FilmFest on November 8, 2012, and released on the internet the following day on both Rolfe's website and YouTube channel.

On September 19 2013, the official poster was revealed The same day a new video update was posted on the Cinemassacre site. In the video Rolfe talks a little about his personal life, health and stress. He also mentions his newborn baby and shows a few pictures of her making goofy faces. He quickly goes on to talk about how he wish to get the movie done and seen by the audience, and mentions how excited he is for it to happen.

Rolfe anticipates the film's release will be through touring film festivals, before being released on DVD and Blu-ray, and eventually some kind of digital download, on a service such as Netflix, Hulu and ITunes. He released an update in April 2013 stating that he didn't know when it would be finished, believing that 'it will be a long time' and 'any attempt to guess would only prove us wrong'.