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SALT LAKE CITY -- If you were looking for a movie with video gamers, fantasy, romance, and a Utopian society, you are now in luck because 'Unicorn City' hits theaters on Friday, Feb. 24th.
'Unicorn City' brings the Utopian society created by gamer, Voss (played by Devin McGinn) to the mountains of Utah County. The movie was brought to life by local directors, Bryan Lefler and his brother Adrian Lefler.
Bryan lives in Bountiful, and was intimately involved in the production of 'Napoleon Dynamite' with his former BYU classmate and friend, Jared Hess. Adrian is also a Utah businessman and screenwriter, and brought his skills to the set of 'Unicorn City.'
Most movies about gamers make fun of them. Gamers are brilliant, smart and kind.
–- Bryan Lefler
However, the film has more ties to Utah than just the landscape and directors. The executive producer, Ken Bretschneider, is a local business owner that also single- handedly funded the project. Bretschneider founded the Lindon-based company Digicert in 2003, and has grown it into one of the fastest growing companies in Utah. He also founded DeepStudios LLC, a Utah-based production company with 'Unicorn City' as his first production.
With its innovative creativity, the film has won numerous awards at different film festivals. It took Best Feature Film at the Chicago Comedy Film Festival and was an Official Selection for the San Diego and Heartland film festivals. 'Unicorn City' also competed in the local LDS Film Festival on Jan. 28-29.
'Unicorn City' tells the story of Voss, a hardcore gamer, who attempts to get a management job with a large game developer. but is turned down after being told he needs to prove he has leadership skills. Voss takes the challenge, and brings a guild of gamers to the mountains where they create a Utopian society based completely from their characters in the virtual reality of their video games. Voss has a friend film and document his leadership ability as he governs their unicorn city.
Although the movie depicts the fantasy world of gamers, it is really more about humor, romance, and friendships. The Lefler brothers tried to avoid the negative stereotype of gamers in creating the film.
"Most movies about gamers make fun of them," said Bryan Lefler in an interview with the Deseret News. "Gamers are brilliant, smart and kind. Everybody we gamed with went against the stereotype."
