Zoom Out Media proudly presents CRAFTING ARZIUM!
SYNOPSIS:
Crafting Arzium is a documentary feature film about board game designers Ryan and Malorie Laukat (the core team behind Red Raven Games). Follow the two creators as they attempt to bring their latest game called Now or Never to life!
What is Arzium? Arzium is the world setting of many of Red Raven’s games, including Near and Far, Above and Below, and Roam–among others. Arzium is a fantastical world filled with desert oases, lush pastures, turnip farms, amber mines, jagged mountains, glogos caverns, iron cities, and exotic flying continents! It is a world which has entertained and inspired thousands of gamers and which captures the imagination.
ABOUT THE FILM:
The idea for Crafting Arzium came about after the completion of The Game Designers and was directly inspired by that movie.
In The Game Designers we set out to capture as much as we possibly could about the world of modern board game design and we traveled near and far to collect numerous stories and interviews. We followed five main designers and interviewed over 70 people in total. The result of that effort was a film that was far-reaching and covered the gamut of the subject.
For Crafting Arzium we thought that it would be fun to delve into the same topic, however, instead of casting a really wide net like we did last time, we wondered how “deep” we could go with just one individual. So we set out in our early pre-production stage and made a long list of designers who we potentially thought could work for the film. Over time the list got shorter and shorter (for different reasons) and we eventually decided to team up with Ryan and Malorie Laukat!
Collaborating with Ryan and Malorie was great. For this film we wanted to find the right individuals who were willing to be open and honest about their challenges–both in regards to the games they make and also in real life matters. Ryan and Malorie were up to the task from the start and have opened up and shared a lot of great information–which really shines through in the film.
FULL CAST:
Ryan Laukat
Malorie Laukat
Cid Laukat
Zoey Laukat
Jamey Laukat
Tom Vasel
Jeremy Salinas
Travis Chance
Jeremy Tritchler
Shaun Tritchler
Alex T. Davis
Brenna Asplund
Craig Knight
CREW:
Writer/Director - Eric Rayl
Executive Producer - Scott Alden
Associate Producers - Crystal Deyton, Darryl Wisner, Hans Scharler
PRODUCTION:
Production of Crafting Arzium began in April 2020 and was completely finished in January 2022. I traveled to the following locations and conventions for the production of this film: Salt Lake City, The Spiral Jetty, Brighton (Utah), Zion National Park, Williamsburg (Virginia), and GenCon.
KICKSTARTER:
In March 2021, Crafting Arzium was successfully funded on Kickstarter with the help and support of 1250 backers. The Kickstarter offered a digital download of the film, Blu-Rays, and a number of special Add-ons. Stretch goals featured a director’s commentary and extended interviews with Ryan and Malorie. We appreciate the support of all of our backers! Visit the Kickstarter here:
IMDB:
We have an IMDB page setup for Crafting Arzium. If you would like to leave a rating and/or review there, that would be great! Visit the IMDB here:
SUPPORT US:
If you enjoyed the movie and would like to support us to continue making more content please consider renting or buying the movie on Vimeo. Visit here:
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