Game of Life (2007); 5mins; Drama
BACK COVER
The global population has exceeded Earth's threshold. Death, murder, and even abortion is encouraged as a means of monitoring the population. Now law targets firstborns for coercive and voluntary deaths. Cameron and Cal are two brothers who play a game of pool to decide who will live and who will die.
CONTENTS
In Front of the Camera
Behind the Camera
Production Notes/Trivia (Contains Spoilers!)
Director's Statement
PERKS
Official Game of Life IMDb Page
Official Game of Life Facebook Fan Page
REVIEWS/ARTICLES
Film Bizarro
SCREENINGS
1. NewFilmmakers Series (October 2007)
2. Lakedance International Film Festival 2007
3. Wildsound Feedback Film Festival (May 2007)
The global population has exceeded Earth's threshold. Death, murder, and even abortion is encouraged as a means of monitoring the population. Now law targets firstborns for coercive and voluntary deaths. Cameron and Cal are two brothers who play a game of pool to decide who will live and who will die.
CONTENTS
In Front of the Camera
Behind the Camera
Production Notes/Trivia (Contains Spoilers!)
Director's Statement
PERKS
Official Game of Life IMDb Page
Official Game of Life Facebook Fan Page
REVIEWS/ARTICLES
Film Bizarro
SCREENINGS
1. NewFilmmakers Series (October 2007)
2. Lakedance International Film Festival 2007
3. Wildsound Feedback Film Festival (May 2007)
IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA
COMING SOON!
BEHIND THE CAMERA
COMING SOON!
PRODUCTION NOTES / TRIVIA
A Prologue of Things to Come
The first film by writer/producer/director Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi.
Was originally created for the Steven Spielberg executive produced On the Lot. After it failed to qualify for the show, the film went on to screen at three festivals.
Premiered at the WILDsound Feedback Film Festival in Toronto. Bill Marshall, co-founder of the Toronto International Film Festival, moderated the theater-packed event. After each group of films were played, the moderator would open up the discussion of each piece to the audience. When it came time to discuss Game of Life, Bill, at first, nearly concluded the night's event having forgotten about the film. This did nothing to ease the tensions of present actors Kevin Carroll and Alino Giraldi. Realizing his error, he simply asked if the director was present. Kevin and Alino comically sank in their seats, fearing the worst as Alfredo stood up. Bill proceeded to ask how money was spent on the film. Alfredo told him that the budget was the cost of two tapes; approximately $20. Bill then told Alfredo to spend another $20 and make the film longer as it had the most feature film potential out of the entire evening's selection.
Shot in approximately 6 hours spanning 2 days.
Shot on MiniDV; Sony PD-170.
Was originally created for the Steven Spielberg executive produced On the Lot. After it failed to qualify for the show, the film went on to screen at three festivals.
Premiered at the WILDsound Feedback Film Festival in Toronto. Bill Marshall, co-founder of the Toronto International Film Festival, moderated the theater-packed event. After each group of films were played, the moderator would open up the discussion of each piece to the audience. When it came time to discuss Game of Life, Bill, at first, nearly concluded the night's event having forgotten about the film. This did nothing to ease the tensions of present actors Kevin Carroll and Alino Giraldi. Realizing his error, he simply asked if the director was present. Kevin and Alino comically sank in their seats, fearing the worst as Alfredo stood up. Bill proceeded to ask how money was spent on the film. Alfredo told him that the budget was the cost of two tapes; approximately $20. Bill then told Alfredo to spend another $20 and make the film longer as it had the most feature film potential out of the entire evening's selection.
Shot in approximately 6 hours spanning 2 days.
Shot on MiniDV; Sony PD-170.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
A long time ago, in an auto body shop far, far away...
Two years out of film school, and the creative well was just filling up. Little things, such as logo design, creative influence, transposing novel-style writing to skeletal scriptwriting; all elements were still just soft bones forming what would eventually harden into Arcilesi Films.
2007 was just a couple of days old when my uncle had purchased a brand new pool table. Whether it was on the same day, or just shortly thereafter, my mom had called to tell me that Steven Spielberg was looking for short films for his executive-produced On the Lot, a filmmaking version of American Idol, an otherwise failed experiment. But before it failed, show producers were on the hunt for 5-minute film submissions.
Inspiration finds its way like a puddle of rainwater to the ocean, and soon I had created an epic story surrounding the likes of my uncle's brand new pool table, a story that Bill Marshall, one of the founders of the Toronto International Film Festival, would call "a 40-pound story in a 10-pound bag."
One day of writing, two days of shooting, and three days of editing yielded the crop that is Game of Life, the first ever film under the Arcilesi Films banner.
What's special about this film was not only was it the absolute first title, or the very first appearance of the famous then family-owned auto body shop known as Weston Service, but that aside from actors Alino Giraldi and Kevin Carroll - the latter whom would become a longtime friend - it was just me. Nobody knew me and I didn't know anybody. The craft had been pure, much like the snow that had fallen those only two days of principal photography. There is a certain innocence captured within the frames of this 5-minute introduction to who I would become, an innocence that I, in 2015, am working to reclaim along with the purity of craft.
Now, having turned entirely towards writing, particularly a novel, it feels, for better or worse, once again that...
...nobody knows me and I don't know anybody.
Two years out of film school, and the creative well was just filling up. Little things, such as logo design, creative influence, transposing novel-style writing to skeletal scriptwriting; all elements were still just soft bones forming what would eventually harden into Arcilesi Films.
2007 was just a couple of days old when my uncle had purchased a brand new pool table. Whether it was on the same day, or just shortly thereafter, my mom had called to tell me that Steven Spielberg was looking for short films for his executive-produced On the Lot, a filmmaking version of American Idol, an otherwise failed experiment. But before it failed, show producers were on the hunt for 5-minute film submissions.
Inspiration finds its way like a puddle of rainwater to the ocean, and soon I had created an epic story surrounding the likes of my uncle's brand new pool table, a story that Bill Marshall, one of the founders of the Toronto International Film Festival, would call "a 40-pound story in a 10-pound bag."
One day of writing, two days of shooting, and three days of editing yielded the crop that is Game of Life, the first ever film under the Arcilesi Films banner.
What's special about this film was not only was it the absolute first title, or the very first appearance of the famous then family-owned auto body shop known as Weston Service, but that aside from actors Alino Giraldi and Kevin Carroll - the latter whom would become a longtime friend - it was just me. Nobody knew me and I didn't know anybody. The craft had been pure, much like the snow that had fallen those only two days of principal photography. There is a certain innocence captured within the frames of this 5-minute introduction to who I would become, an innocence that I, in 2015, am working to reclaim along with the purity of craft.
Now, having turned entirely towards writing, particularly a novel, it feels, for better or worse, once again that...
...nobody knows me and I don't know anybody.
Copyright 2007-2015 Arcilesi Films. All rights reserved.