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Longtime friends practice game of film making |
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Written by Dan England
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Thursday, 21 June 2007 |
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 It would probably be unfair to call Tom Fowler and Eric Olson geeks.
We can call the 25-year-old Greeley residents best friends, so much so that they’ve known each other since the fourth grade, finish each other’s sentences and are known to many as TomandEric.
We can call them business partners. The two formed A Film Company last year, and they can shoot anything for you: your kids’ soccer game, a wedding, anything within reason (there are limits, they say with a slight chuckle).
They can transfer anything, such as VHS tapes onto DVDs. They were the videographers for the Colorado Ice, shooting both game film and highlights.
They both have part-time jobs, Tom at Best Buy, Eric in marketing, but the film company is their full-time job.
Now we can call them filmmakers. The two are shooting their first feature film “The Code: Legend of the Gamers.” The movie is shot in a “mockumentary” style, much like Christopher Guest’s movies (‘’Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind”) and features northern Colorado actors and settings.
But geeks? Well, maybe that’s not fair, even if the movie is about video gamers competing in a tournament. It’s a subject they know.
That’s partly why they chose this for their first feature. The other reason is video gaming continues to be a huge business. The budget for “Halo 3,” in fact, compares to a big summer action flick, and “Halo 2” made more than any summer movie in its first weekend of release a couple years ago.
Tom wrote the script for the film, and Eric will not only act but help coach the other actors. The two work well together. They have since they went into theater together and went to the University of Northern Colorado together. They even roomed together their freshman year. Eric came up with their dream of a feature film during a year in Los Angeles trying to become an actor.
“It’s hard to break into L.A, so I thought we could just do it ourselves here,” Eric said.
The movie follows three teams through the gaming tournament. They will film the rest of the month and hope to wrap most of it up on June 23, when the two shoot the “tournament” at Best Buy in Loveland. It should be about 100 minutes long when it’s complete.
They hope to get more than 100 extras that day, so if you’ve always wanted to be in a movie, or you’re a gaming geek, Tom and Eric want you there. All you have to do is show up.
“I want to make sure they’re having fun,” Tom said. “I want them to actually see how much fun making a movie can be.”
The two have upgraded their equipment. Tom attended a conference on Apple’s “Final Cut Studio” so he’s up to date on the editing software. They’re ready. They hope to finish by September and possibly have premieres in northern Colorado theaters, such as the Metrolux in Loveland.
Once it’s done, they also hope to hit the festivals and get it distributed, or maybe the movie will give them other opportunities.
Mostly, though, they expect to have fun making this movie. It is, after all, a common interest. It’s packed with references to “Star Wars” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. It’s full of gamers, people Eric and Tom relate to all too well. “It’s a story about nerd culture,” Tom said.
There’s a pause.
“Cause, we’re kind of like, um, guilty,” Eric said.
Maybe it’s unfair for us to call them geeks. But we’ll allow them to admit it themselves.
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INTERESTED?
For more information about A Film Company, call 397.6888 or 397.0204. You can also go to www.myspace.com/afilmcompany or e-mail:
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If you would like to be an extra in their movie, show up at the Best Buy, 6075 Sky Pond Drive in Loveland, after 10 a.m. on June 23. The company will have a lot of giveaways. | Only registered users can write comments.
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