Films for Nerds
Role-playing with fire: Local indie film Zero Charisma explores the hipster-nerddivide
Sam Eidson (l) stars as Scott Weidemeier, the greatest Dungeon Master of alltime.
Co-directors Andrew Matthews and Katie Graham
When I was growing up, I rarely heard anybody ever talking about nerdy things like comic books, Star Trek or Dungeons & Dragons. Now that I'm an adult, it's all I ever hear about from several of my friends.
Those once-taboo activities that were only practiced by unpopular dweeb tweens with thick glasses and overactive sweat glands now prompt grown men and women into gathering together for hours of fantasy role-playing. At least, that's that's the case in Austin.
Come to find out that here, the four-eyed, unwashed masses at the Dragon's Lair comic book shop are entirely indistinguishable from the uni-cycling, indie band-listening hipsters of East Sixth Street.
So what's a class-obsessed cultural anthropologist supposed to do now to categorize who belongs where and which group shall reign supreme?
This upset to the previous high school food chain lies at the heart of Andrew Matthews's script for the new indie film from Magic Stone Productions and Shark Films, Zero Charisma, co-directed by Matthews and his wife, Katie Graham.
With a nod to classic D&D character profiles, the film's title cleverly implies how Scott, the "greatest Dungeon Master of all time" struggles with relating to anyone from outside the gaming community. When neo-nerd hipster Miles invades his role-playing world, Scott is forced to face his toughest battle yet.
"Clearly, there's a lot of hipsters in Austin. And sometimes the nerds and the hipsters meet in the middle, they touch," explains Graham. In this case, it's over an antique dining room table in Scott's grandmother's dining room, where character sheets, figurines and enough 20-sided dice to choke an orc reside.
Played by Austin actor Sam Eidson (SXSW films Natural Selection and My Sucky Teen Romance) in his debut as a lead actor, the filmmakers feel they found the ideal mix of vulnerable man-child and unbearable windbag.
"I've always played the comical side man, so it's cool getting to be the leading man. But Scott's not your typical leading man at all," says Eidson, already in costume, preparing for the day's shoot. "He's so intense, all day every day. He's not a one-note kind of guy and I love that."
"What's especially interesting is how characters like Scott take everything so seriously, while hipsters like Miles take nothing serious at all," adds Matthews. "When the extremes emerge, that's where the basis of their conflict emerges."
Matthews is, unsurprisingly, a dedicated video and tabletop gaming veteran, so the vocabulary and personalities of his characters were a cinch to capture. "I realized that when you're making a nerd movie, however, you can't just be a niche movie for and about people who play games. I showed the script to family members to make sure they thought it was funny, too."
"Thankfully, a lot of genuine gamers saw the three-minute trailer we made for the initial Indiegogo campaign, and they said it feels authentic," Graham says. "They gave us feedback to help us move forward."
Both directors commented on how helpful and accommodating the gaming community, the film community and the actors in town have helped make the filmmaking process enjoyable. "It's amazing how much easier it is to find great actors here than in L.A.," Graham exclaims. "As soon as we got here, all the elements were just already here."
The directors are now transplants by way of Los Angeles, where they established a firm standing in the film world on the much applauded documentary, Best Worst Movie. The film, which portrays the real-life cult following of the low-budget horror film Troll 2, was a sleeper hit at SXSW and prompted them to make their first narrative film with a similar potential fan base.
"Gen Con already asked if they could premiere [Zero Charisma]," remarks Matthews. "But we're hoping to also do the usual film circuit. We're sure everyone will enjoy it."
With their funding secured and shooting underway, don't be surprised to find camera crews rolling on your next trip to Austin's gaming stores like Great Hall Games.
That is, if you admit to going to stores like that... ya nerd.
