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The game inventor
Based on the novel by
Pablo de Santis |
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Synopsis
At the age of seven, Ivan Dragó enters a game-making contest held by "Deep Games", an enigmatic company headquartered on the SS Napoleon, an ocean liner. Against all odds, he receives a letter informing him that he has been shortlisted for the contest, together with other ten thousand contestants. Besides, together with the letter comes what appears to be a simple temporary tattoo transfer which, in time, will become an indelible mark on his arm. From then on, a world of adventure and mystery will unravel for Iván and his life will intermingle with an initially incomprehensible game.
Five years later, Ivan's parents disappear mysteriously during an air balloon contest and after a short stay with his less than patient Aunt Elena, he will be sent to live with his grandfather in the mythical city of Zyl, the cradle of game makers. There, decades before, the most talented inventors and engineers used to make the best chess boards, Magical Brains, glow-in-the-dark Zenia cards, and thousands of other games and the main tourist attraction used to be the Garden-Labyrinth, which had been neglected to the point of turning into an impenetrable jungle.
Ivan's grandfather, Nicolas Dragó, who has stayed in Zyl and is devoted to creating gigantic puzzles, will reveal to his grandson part of the story that has led the town to its present state of profound decay: after losing a yearly-held Game Contest, a former citizen called Morodian swore revenge as he left the city. It was he who later founded the company called "Deep Games" which has caused Zyl's brain drain. He will also let Iván know that his strange tattoo represents the missing piece of the town's icon puzzle, thus being the omniscient mark of Zyl's tragedy.
Such a revelation will be the driving force behind Iván's decision to leave town and head to "Deep Games" in an attempt to infiltrate into the very heart of the organization to recover the puzzle's missing piece for Zyl, defying the risk of getting trapped, as so many others, as one more company member. But a higher, yet intimate, motivation drives Iván Dragó: to find out what really happened to his parents in that weird accident.
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The Project
"The Game Inventor" is an exceptional novel for children and young adults by the talented contemporary Argentinean writer Pablo De Santis. It was published in South America by Alfaguara Publishers in 2003, as well as in Spain and Italy. The plot, full of creativity and fantasy, depicts a universe of scenarios and characters that could belong anywhere in the world, beyond country boundaries and ethnic groups. This makes the story and the movie project a universal product which can be targeted at an even wider audience than the 9-18 age range for which the book was written.
This film clearly belongs to the Family Movie category, with some elements of the Adventure and Fantasy genres at the same time. Although the project poses a big production challenge, especially in terms of set design and locations, the movie’s international budget costs can be adjusted and lowered by shooting in Argentina as well as by relying on a well-planned process, the building of virtual sets and digital post-production.
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