Documentary: Wii Games Summer 2010

Video games are officially a mainstream part of culture. Esports have reached phenomenal new heights, and are regularly shown on tv, but it wasn't always this way. Before today's cultural relevance, there were humble beginnings. But between then and now there is a plethora of events, competitions, and stories -some of which are foundational and monumental parts of esports history- that have faded into obscurity, and have been all but lost to time.
This is one of those stories, the story of the biggest gaming competition that you've never heard of:
The Wii Games Summer 2010.

My name is Zachary Hendrix, and I am one of the winners of the Wii Games Summer 2010.

Nintendo has never released official numbers for any of their competitions, yet with over 200,000 teams participating the W.G.S.2010 is most likely the largest event that Nintendo has ever hosted, however the obscurity of it would make you think otherwise.

Although it was the only large-scale competition hosted by Nintendo in a 21 year span, and recieved nationwide media coverage not even 8 years ago, the Wii Games Summer 2010 remains Nintendo's most obscure competition. Even high ranking Nintendo employees, who started at the company a few mere months after the competition ended, have not heard of the event for some reason or another. Time and time again gaming historians, youtubers, and bloggers claim that the Nintendo World Championships 2015 was Nintendo's first competition since Powerfest '94, further erasing the stories of hundreds of thousands of people all across the country.

I want to give those stories a chance, an oppurtunity to not be lost forever. To speak with other champions, runner-ups, qualifiers, and competitors, people who have stories that the gaming world didn't realize it needed to hear, stories about the time they decided to "get up, and get playing" and were rewarded with an experiece that seems ripped straight out of the ultimate gamer's wildest dreams.

These are the stories of real people who got to share an unreal experience with their family and friends, and together, all of those stories make one big story.. The story of the Wii Games Summer 2010.

I want to create a feature length documentary for the Wii Games Summer 2010 so that story will no longer go untold.

That's why I have set-up this gofundme, to get the funds to be able to travel to other people who have stories to share, to be able to afford to bring a crew with, to rent or buy the best equipment needed to get the job done, to set up meetings with the people who have the answers and facts that the history books are missing, pay for only the most experienced editors to create the most compelling experience, and to cover the cost of advertising, so people can actually find out about the finished product, and hear those lost stories.

Absolutely anything you can contribute goes such a long way and is extremely appreciated!!

I started the reward tiers all the way down at $5 as a way of showing my gratitude even for even the littlest amount given.

If you cannot give financially please please please hit that share button, as that will still spread awareness.

I am fully hoping and expecting to hit the goal, however I do understand that sometimes things don't go the way we plan. So if the goal is not hit within 1 year of launching (April 14th 2019) I will close the campaign and make the documentary with the budget collected.

Thank you SO MUCH for contributing to my dream of letting these lost stories be heard; I promise you, that investment is in the most caring hands possible! 

                                                !!!! EXPENSE BREAKDOWN !!!!

I was unaware of that you could update a goal on here. So I have updated it to the bare minimum that we would need to raise in order to be able to simply gather the footage and do the interviews with the people involved. $15,000 is what we need to put together a bare-bones, yet complete documentary.

It'd be pushing it, but we could get away with a crew of 3 people per location/interview.
A cameraman, an audio operator (guy who holds the mic), and myself as the director / film assistant.
Round trip plane tickets to everywhere we are going average out at $300 per person. There would be 3 of us, so that would average out to $900 a trip on the tickets.
However, we also have equipment to bring along, which would be our lights, sound, camera, lots of stands for the previous mentioned things, along with many other needed things as well. That would add (on the low end) $200 in luggage fees per trip.
The crew and myself would have to sleep somewhere, so for 2 nights at a motel, that would come out to $125 on the low end.
We will also need to be able to travel to and from the airport and our interview locations, along with places to get eat. With all of the equipment we're bringing we would not be able to "just uber," so the vehicle rental and gas will add another $150 minimum.
Speaking of food, the crew needs that as well, and also I would like to be able to take the participants we are filming with to dinner one night as a thank you, because they were not obligated to help create this documentary, yet they are taking time out of their own busy schedules to help us bring you the full story of the competition. So food will be around $125.

Per location that comes out to $1,500 total.
$900 for plane tickets + $200 for equipment/luggage + $125 for lodging + $150 for car & gas + $125 for food.

There are 8 different locations that would require this sort of travel.
So 8 locations x $1,500 per location comes out to $12,000 right there.

$1,750 would go to upgrading our equipment ie better lighting, better sound, upgrading the camera and its lenses.

$1,250 would be reserved for unexpected expenses, like lodging and car rentals / gas costing more than expected in places like California or New York, higher than normal plane ticket prices, equipment malfunctions, or any other unforeseen expenses.

$12,000 for "travel" + $1,750 on equipment + $1,250 as a safety net, brings the total needed to be able to be able to make a workable documentary to $15,000.

Ultimately it would be extremely more convenient and efficient to be able to have a crew of 4 or 5 people besides myself, and I'd love to go bigger on equipment upgrades, and special Nintendo guest appearances, to do that, we would need $25,000 but we can talk after we reach this first goal.
As it stands $15,000 is the price we need to bring you something truly special :)