Press Start - Production Journal

Press Start: Bio Haphazard

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Hey gang! Press Start Adventures is still in the works, and in the meantime we've got another exciting announcement...

In case you haven't heard of them, X-Strike Studios is a totally awesome group of folks who produce videogame parody movies. They started out with River City Rumble in 2003 and now, four movies later, they're about to release their latest achievement, Resident Horror -- a hilarious spoof of survival horror games and the Resident Evil series in particular.

Back in January, X-Strike asked us if we'd be interested in producing a short survival horror spoof of our own for the Resident Horror DVD, and how could we resist!

So we're proud to announce a brand new live-action Press Start short, created exclusively for X-Strike Studios and the Resident Horror DVD, due out in June:

You can find out much more about the DVD at www.x-strikestudios.com!

Press Start Adventures!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:09:00 +0000

You may have been wondering what's been going on with Press Start: Bonus Levels. As you probably know, it's been on hiatus since the movie came out in September. But behind the scenes... things have been happening. Specifically, this thing:

We're excited to announce that Press Start: Bonus Levels has taken on its second form to become Press Start Adventures, a new animated series for cell phones coming very soon.

The first 14 episodes will be retooled versions of the existing Bonus Levels toons, tightened up and featuring new music and sound. However, we've got 10 brand new episodes on the way which take place after the events of the movie - and which finally feature Zack!

Also returning to the series along with the rest of the main cast is David Humphrey, the original voice of Shadow the Hedgehog and our very own vampire king, Lord Vlad. We're incredibly excited.

Episodes will be available soon, so check your mobile carrier, but don't fret if you can't get them. We hope to ultimately make the series available to the non-cell-phone-inclined as well. And of course, we'll keep you posted here, as well as on the new Press Start Adventures website.

Press Start Reviewed in PC Gamer Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:07:00 +0000

If you pick up the February issue of PC Gamer and turn to page 18, you might notice a segment called "Bogus Features: The good, the bad, and the ugly of recent game-inspired DVD releases."

The bad? Doom. The ugly? Bloodrayne 2. The good? A little no-budget flick called Press Start!!

Click the image for a PDF of the review or check it out on our In the Media section.

The page has been posted with the kind permission of PC Gamer Magazine.

MAGFest Screening

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:12:00 +0000

Greetings! I hope you all had an excellent holiday.

I'm afraid I'm a little behind in getting the MAGFest info out, but here it finally is! We'll be screening Press Start at MAGFest on Saturday, January 5 at 3pm in the Video Room. Afterward we'll be holding a short Q&A session, so if there's anything you've been dying to know we'll be glad to tell you.

MAGFest is from January 3-6 at the Hilton Mark Center in Alexandria, VA. You can visit the official website at www.magfest.org. Hope to see you there!

Lastly, keep checking back, because we've got some exciting news coming.

WOW.

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:54:00 +0000

You guys rock. We just can’t believe how positive the response has been to Press Start! Thank you to everyone who has ordered it, and thank you for all the kind words.

In case you’re interested, the folks over at Kotaku, Destructoid, and The 7th Level have had some extremely nice things to say about the flick as well.

Press Start on the marquee! And poster on the left.

We had our big screen premiere at The Virginia Theatre on October 3, and it was phenomenal. The turnout was great and the local news was there to cover the event. Watching Press Start on the big screen (and The Virginia’s screen is enormous!) was almost overwhelming – especially from the front row – but holy cow was it fun. Thanks to everyone who came, to The Virginia for hosting us, and to Volition for sponsoring it!

Let's all go the the lobby...

Now, a number of folks have understandably been wondering what’s to become of Press Start: Bonus Levels now that the movie is done. Well, after two years making a feature length movie and most of that time concurrently making a web cartoon series, we all need a little bit of a break. However, we have every intention of bringing it back as soon as possible (hopefully very soon), so keep checking back! We haven’t had enough of Zack, Sam, Lin-Ku, or any of the others by any means.

In even FURTHER news, Press Start will be at MAGFest, the Music and Gaming Festival, in Alexandria, Virginia coming in January! We’ll be there showing the movie and doing a Q&A panel afterward. More info to come!

Thanks again, and please keep spreading the word! We couldn’t do it without you.

Press Start on DVD! And we need your help!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:01:00 +0000

Has it really been two years since this whole thing started? It’s hard to believe. But you know what’s even harder to believe? Press Start is now available on DVD!

It’s true! I’ve seen it! And we couldn’t be more excited.

But here’s the thing: We need your help! With a few exceptions, Press Start has pretty much been off the media’s radar so far, despite our best efforts and the fantastic talent involved in the project (Mortal Kombat’s Daniel & Carlos Pesina, Metal Gear Awesome’s Arin Hanson, a score by Contra 4’s Jake Kaufman, and all the other crazy folks who have been in the Bonus Levels cartoons). We would really like to change that, and that’s where you come in.

If you like what we do, we’d like to make a humble request: Please tell people about Press Start. If you could do any of the following today, it would be greatly appreciated:

Digg us here!
Submit the news to your favorite blog or news site.
Spread the word on your MySpace, Facebook, blog, website, or whatever! Just link to http://www.pressstartmovie.com
Tell, email, or AIM your gamer friends about Press Start!

Please spread the word, and thank you for all your support!

Also, just a reminder that the big screen premiere of Press Start will be on Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00 pm at The Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL. The event is sponsored by Volition, Inc. – makers of Saints Row, Red Faction, and The Punisher!

Favorite Game

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:20:00 +0000

If you're keeping score, the Press Start DVD comes out tomorrow!! Holy cow.

In the meantime, here's us listing our favorite videogames. Just because.

And since you probably don't know who some of these people are, they are (in order): Ed Glaser (director/producer), Kevin Folliard (writer), Joshua Stafford (Zack), Al Morrison (Lin-Ku), Meagan Benz (production designer), Lauren Chambers (Sam), Daniel Pesina (Sasori), Michael Kleppin (Captain Psychodrive), and Jake Kaufman (composer).

Bubble Trouble

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:22:00 +0000

We've got another super-short toon for you! This one features those adorable little dragons, Bud and Dob:

The next full Bonus Levels cartoon comes out this Tuesday! We're doing it early to coincide with the release of the Press Start DVD!

Bloodshed

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:27:00 +0000

Peter Davis (a.k.a Count Vile) is back again with a true story of filming a fight sequence for the movie.

Also, less than a week till the September 25 DVD release date!!

World Premiere!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:05:00 +0000

We've got some big news! We're thrilled to announce the world premiere of Press Start! This is your chance to see this 2-year labor of love on a big screen, so if you're anywhere near Champaign, IL you won't want to miss it. It's Wednesday, October 3 at 7:00pm at The Virginia Theatre in Champaign. Tickets are a mere $3.

What's more, the event is sponsored by Volition, Inc. – creators of such games as Saints Row, Red Faction, and The Punisher!

We'll be there selling copies of the Press Start DVD and maybe even a few T-shirts.

You can order tickets by phone at (217) 356-9063. Incidentally, The Virginia Theatre is also where Roger Ebert holds his Film Festival every year! The address is:

203 W. Park
Champaign, IL 61820

Hope to see you October 3!

Captain Psychodrive VG sighting

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:30:00 +0000

Press Start characters seem to be popping up in videogames all over the place! (How appropriate!) This one is thanks to our own Joshua Stafford, who has created Captain Psychodrive in City of Heroes! Check him out:

"Most Difficult Thing"

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:46:00 +0000

Lauren Chambers explains one of the most challenging aspects of playing Sam:

DVD Contents

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:00:00 +0000

You may be wondering what, besides the movie itself, will be on the Press Start DVD. A fine question, and we have your answer!

Special Features:

3 Audio Commentary Tracks

Director/producer Ed Glaser, writer Kevin Folliard, and production designer Meagan Benz
Actors Joshua Stafford, Al Morrison, and Peter Davis (plus Ed)
Composer Jake Kaufman (and Ed, yet again. Sorry.)

Making-Of Featurette
Trailer
3 Bonus Levels cartoons

"Symphony of the Trite"
"Endgame, Part 1"
"Endgame, Part 2"

"Dial V for Vile" shorts
Japanese Dolls Commercial

The DVD will sell for $12.99 and will be available (as if you didn't know) on September 25, exclusively at www.PressStartMovie.com.

Fowl Play

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:57:00 +0000

In the tradition of the "Speed Run" Bonus Levels toon featuring Sam, we've whipped up a couple of super-short toons, just for fun. Below is one of 'em. Has Lin-Ku finally met his match?!

Oh, and two more weeks till the DVD!

Jake Kaufman's Hi Score

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:34:00 +0000

Videogame composer Jake Kaufman (Shantae, Contra 4) makes his film score debut with Press Start! We asked him to talk a little about his inspiration:

A Long Time

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:09:00 +0000

Filming Press Start took a long time. But just how long? Peter Davis elaborates:

By the way, keep checking the site (particularly the blog) all this month. We'll be posting lots of little tidbits between now and September 25, including a couple of animated ones.

Also, we've just added a new pic of Count Vile to the Photos page!

DVD Box Art!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 01:56:00 +0000

In case you're wondering what the DVD artwork will look like... well, wonder no longer!

Just 20 more days until Go Time, September 25!

Trailer!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:38:00 +0000

The trailer for Press Start is now online! Check it out on the entry page or the Videos page. And if you'd like to embed it on your own site, it's also available on YouTube:

We've also uploaded a short collection of interview clips to YouTube, where we talk a little more about Press Start:

Enjoy, and don't forget that tomorrow's episode of Press Start: Bonus Levels features the voice of Robert Belgrade, better known as Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night!

PAL: Good News and Bad News.

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:23:00 +0000

NOTE: The following only affects folks in Western Europe, Australia and Eastern South America.

The bad news first: unfortunately we won't be able to have a PAL version of Press Start available after all, because the resulting video would just look unacceptably choppy and awful. We're extremely sorry.

BUT!! The good news is that your computer will be able to play the DVD just fine -- computers and computer monitors make no distinction between PAL and NTSC. And the Press Start disc will be REGION FREE, so region coding won't make any difference whatsoever.

There's also a good chance that your PAL set-top DVD player will still play the disc. Most PAL DVD players can actually play both formats, and most PAL TVs made within the last 8-10 years support it as well. However, we are unable to guarantee this.

Just a reminder: if you live in the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Phillippines, Mexico, or any other country that uses the NTSC standard, your Press Start DVD should play just fine on all players.

Press Start Art at Wizard World Chicago!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Folliard) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:07:00 +0000

Hey there, ladies and gents! You may have heard of a little gathering called Wizard World Chicago. It just so happens I'll be there this weekend, August 10th through 12th, as a guest of Chicago area artist J.T. Molloy who will be showcasing his work, including but hardly limited to this excellent Press Start piece:

So if you were planning on going to the convention, we'd love to have you drop by with questions, or just to say hi! And if you weren't planning on going, will be in the Chicago land area, and have any kind of nerdish or fan-boy-like tendencies, then you should change your plans and go! It's a blast!

Hope to see you there at table 4214A in Artist's Alley!

-Kevin Folliard (Press Start writer)

NEWS ATTACK!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:32:00 +0000

You may have noticed that we've given the site a little revamp. Be sure to check out the new Downloads page for Press Start AIM icons, wallpaper, and a downloadable version of the new poster art!

We've also moved the "Dial V for Vile" shorts from the Bonus Levels page to the new Videos page. Speaking of which, the Bonus Levels cartoons are back! And in this new episode, so is Vile's greatest nemesis...

And if that's not enough news, we're delighted to announce that next month's cartoon will feature special guest star Robert Belgrade, who you might know better as Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! You might also know him as the Narrator from the Tekken games, Signas from Mega Man X7, or one of numerous other game roles. So tune in on Friday, August 31 for that.

Also on August 31, the trailer for the movie will be available!

STILL not enough news? How about this: Press Start's very own composer Jake Kaufman is also currently scoring the music for the upcoming videogame Contra 4! Pretty cool, eh?

Too Kool!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:28:00 +0000

Press Start fan Dynamo just sent us a real videogame version of our very own Lin-Ku, in the form of a Kreate-a-Fighter character made in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! Lin-Ku is especially well suited for the MK universe, so I'll bet he'd blend right in. Thanks, Dynamo!

To all our PALs out there

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:22:00 +0000

We've often been asked if Press Start will be available in other countries, and that's an excellent question. Yes, the DVD will be available to order online from anywhere in the world. It will be a region-free disc, compatible with DVD players of all regions.

However, we've also been asked if there will be a PAL version available. For those not in the know, PAL is a television/video standard used in several parts of the world, particularly in much of Europe and Asia. In America, we use a standard called NTSC.

While many DVD players can play both NTSC and PAL discs, an NTSC Press Start disc may not be totally compatible with all players worldwide. However, it WILL be compatible with all U.S. players.

But here's the good news. We'll be working hard to make sure we can have a PAL version of Press Start available at the same time the NTSC version is available. This shouldn't be a problem, and we'll keep you posted. You'll just want to make sure that when you order your copy of the DVD, you make sure you get the version that's right for your country.

Thanks for all your support! Just a little over 3 months left!

Does Master Chief <3 Press Start?

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:21:00 +0000

Looks like Microsoft will be releasing Halo 3 the same day that our little videogame movie comes out on DVD: September 25.

So don't forget to order your copy of Press Start before you become engrossed in the world of SPARTANs, Warthogs, and Master Chef. Er... Chief.

And if that's not enough to tie it together...

No, we're not shilling for Microsoft. I just wanted an excuse to post that video before it became totally dated. ;-)

Dial V for Vile!

noreply@blogger.com (Ed Glaser) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:22:00 +0000

Bonus Levels may be on hiatus until July 27, but that doesn't mean we don't have something for you in the meantime. In fact, we're pleased to present...

DIAL "V" FOR VILE!

You see, as a very important evil dictator, Count Vile has a lot of equally important phone calls to make. Dial "V" for Vile chronicles his, um, exciting adventures on the ol' Alexander Graham. And what's more, they're live action!

We'll have three of these shorts which will take Bonus Levels' usual spot on the last Friday of each month through June.

We were gonna just give him a webcam, but he couldn't figure out how to set it up...

Hope you enjoy!