''Gaming In Color'' is a documentary film by

MidBoss MidBoss is an American video game and media production company that was founded by members of the GaymerX team as they expanded beyond GaymerX into other ventures, specifically '' Gaming in Color'' and '' 2064: Read Only Memories''. On March 26, ...

about queer people in gaming. Directed by Philip Jones, ''Gaming In Color'' focuses on lesbian,

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, bisexual,

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

, and queer (

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

) issues in video games, gaymer culture and events, and the rise of queer themes in gaming."Gaming In Color" wants to tell LGBT gamers' stories
/ref> The film is largely interview based, and features notable gay gaming personalities in the industry and communities. George Skleres from Riot Games and Colleen Macklin star in the film, both of whom appeared at the

GaymerX GaymerX is an American 501c3 non-profit dedicated to celebrating and supporting LGBTQ+ people and culture in the world of gaming, with a focus on video games. GaymerX puts on a fan-facing convention with LGBT-oriented gaming and geek culture, or ...

convention, a prominent topic.

History

The film was funded on Kickstarter in May 2013, with 1,026 backers, pledging $51,158. The successful Kickstarter campaign came after an initial campaign seeking $125,000 was cancelled.Gaming In Color Kickstarter Relaunches
The new campaign noted that resources had been donated and the film's crew had changed, so the new campaign reflected an adjusted budget of $50,000. It was filmed throughout 2013, conducting individual interviews as well as shooting a great amount of

in August. The crew worked to include varied stories and experiences that fell into the same broad category. Later in 2013, the film was acquired by

who completed the filming, editing, and all post-production, releasing it on their own. On April 22, 2014, ''Gaming In Color'' released for digital sales on their VHX distribution page. Throughout the year, the film screened at game conventions, festivals, queer events, universities, and tech camps worldwide, including events at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

, and GaymerX2. The film won Best Documentary at the

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playin ...

2014 Film Festival, and later screened several times on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

to over 20,000 combined live viewers. In January 2015, MidBoss announced that ''Gaming In Color'' would be partnering with

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...

and their film branch for the film's major digital distribution, and released the news that ''Gaming In Color'' will launch on iTunes,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, PlayStation,

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

, and

Vudu Vudu is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand rentals and digital purchases of film ...

on May 19.

Plot

Common topics in the film include why games matter, what a game is, what they do for individuals, and how they affect culture are explored. Sexuality in culture bridges the gap to sexuality in games, to make room for the topic of non-traditional sexualities and expressions being a part of culture, and thus video games. Hate speech and

bigotry Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

are common in online spaces, and how that affects people personally when they play games is commented on. Solutions to harmful activity is postulated, and many point to the GaymerX convention for doing good work in creating a

safe space The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a margi ...

in adding visibility, to influence a more open-minded gaming community, as well as more LGBTQ characters in mainstream games. The film also stars Naomi Clark (game creator), Joey Stern ( Geeks OUT organizer), Shane Cherry (NYC Gaymers promoter), Jessica Vazquez (games journalist), and Matthew Michael Brown ("Gaymer" of '' The Tester'', Season 2 winner). Everyone in the main cast either identifies as LGBTQ, and/or active in gay gaming work of some kind. Many GaymerX attendees also make appearances, including ''GameRevolution''’s Editor in Chief, Nick Tan.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title , 3654026 2014 documentary films 2014 LGBT-related films 2014 films American documentary films American LGBT-related films Documentary films about LGBT topics Documentary films about video games Kickstarter-funded documentaries LGBT and video games 2010s English-language films 2010s American films