Introducing: Our first Fighting Game Community Doc

Hi folks,

We've already spilled the beans on our Dream Daddy project, but we've got another exciting documentary to let you in on.

One of the most vibrant and exciting areas of games culture is the Fighting Game Community. The incredible stories coming out of Evo this past weekend are great examples of the human drama that fuels this world. I've always been a respectful onlooker of the FGC; its grass-roots nature, diverse player base and evolving culture. But I've also always been an outsider.

I'm not the person to do a doc on the FGC. At least not the docs that should be made. To do that requires a well of cultural knowledge I simply cannot pull from. The mainstream games press does enough fish out of water reporting on the FGC, but to tell authentic documentaries that dig deep into the stories of those involved, you need somebody from inside of that world.

So, it's a good thing we have one working for us!

A major reason I invited Esteban Martinez into the Noclip family was because of his work kickstarting and producing his own documentary on the Fighting Game Community. This demonstrated not only his incredible technical ability, but a deep love for a world that I knew we should be reporting on more. For the past six months Esteban has been helping us film patron videos, behind-the-scenes features and b-roll for our docs. But the plan was always to have him take on a larger responsibility further down the road. So while I'm busy at home with my newborn baby girl, I figured this was as good a time as ever to fund one of his projects.

The story he's going to tell us is one he's wanted to for years. It revolves around a pioneer of video game streaming. Somebody who loves fighting games so much that he made it his life's work to share them with as many people as possible. Esteban knows the story better than anyone, so I asked him to let us know what to expect...

Esteban Martinez:

Victor “Spooky” Fontanez and Team Spooky are among the most recognizable names in fighting games. For years Spooky has streamed and broadcasted events all over the world; from bedrooms and ballrooms in NYC to massive conventions in Tokyo. A streamer since before Twitch even existed, Spooky's influence has not only affected the evolution of the fighting game community, but the wider culture of video games. 

His success, however, did not come easy.

How did a guy in New York City figure out how to broadcast games around the world, years before the tools existed? How did his methods and techniques shape the culture of an emerging fighting game community? And how did an infamous call-out set the stage for his biggest challenge yet: producing Evo 2011's livestream?

Esteban has finished filming a number of interviews in both NYC and at Evolution 2018 and is already hard at work on the edit. I'll be supervising the production and helping him strike a tone that speaks to the fighting game community, without alienating those of us who don't know that world. But this is very much his story, and one that I am proud to showcase on Noclip in the not-too-distant future.

Funding other people's ideas has long been a dream of mine and I can't wait to see how this documentary turns out. With this project I hope we can expose our audience to the unique culture of the fighting game community, and maybe show the FGC what Noclip is all about too.

Keep your eyes peeled. This is gonna be a fun one!

Danny

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