Origins of the film

Hi, my name is Michael Highland I'm a filmmaker from Philadelphia, PA, and the creator of As Real as Your Life. The film began as a 9 minute video project my freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania back in 2003. At the time I was heavily addicted to video games and the film was my way of getting some perspective on my situation. After a screening at the Ivy Leauge Film Festival, Scot Rubin of AllGames.com, found me and offered to help create a longer more polished version of the film.

The following Summer I rewrote and expanded the film, and after 3 months of work finished the first cut of the 22 minute version. Later that Summer, verteran game developer David Perry asked if he could show a piece of the film at a talk he was going to give at the 2006 TED conference. I cut a special shorter version of the new film, which he wound up screening to wide acclaim. The 'TED cut' is availible here.

Inspired by the response at the TED conference, I continuted to rework the film, realizing that I might really have a chance of changing people's perceptions of video games. In early 2009 a new version of this site will be launched featuring weekly videos about video game culture and a chance for you to participate in the discussion. Sign up here for updates on this site.