Canadian pair’s ‘Indie Game: The Movie’ lands HBO deal at Sundance

Chalk one up for the Canadian underdogs at Sundance!

'Indie Game: The Movie,' created by Winnipeggers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, was a hit among the cinephiles in Park City, Utah. But a tip of the hat from HBO has these Canadian filmmakers sitting on cloud nine.

The major cable network has agreed to option the videogame themed documentary for a fictional television series, according to a post on the 'Indie Game: The Movie' fan page.

"It is kind-of like a crazy thing (that) two people from Winnipeg (came) here to Park City, with this whole machine and this whole world and have all these people that are interested," explains Pajot in a Winnipeg Free Press story.

"It's just been awesome to have people actually watch the film and react to it and see an audience watch it, and laugh in certain parts and cry in certain parts, and then people come up to you at the end and say that it meant something to them."

The film follows the lives of a handful of videogame developers, including Tommy Refenes and Edmund McMilen, creators of Super Meat Boy for Xbox, and Phil Fish, who has spent four years creating the highly-anticipated FEZ. Indie Game: The Movie also tells the tale of a game called Braid, one of the highest-rated videogame releases of all time.

"Finally, there's one videogame movie out there people should see!" shares G4 TV. Check out the official trailer below:

The deal with HBO is still in its infancy, and as Pajot explains, "a bunch of things need to line up for them to actually make the series." But if everything goes according to plan, the new series will be produced by Scott Rudin, producer of blockbuster titles such as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' 'The Social Network' and 'Moneyball.'

"It's kind of crazy to get that kind of vote of confidence from Scott Rudin," reveals Pajot. "Sundance is crazy... You can't really plan for it, really."