Stage of Development is a video documentary series featuring the human stories of Chicago’s indie game developers. Produced by Russ Pitts of Flying Saucer Media, Stage of Development goes behind the scenes with Bit Bash, Young Horses (Octodad: Dadliest Catch), William Chyr (Manifold Garden), Culture Shock Games (We Are Chicago), and The Men Who Wear Many Hats (Organ Trail: Director’s Cut; Max Gentlemen). The video series is currently seeking $42,891 in funding on Kickstarter by Sep 3, 2016.

Since Stage of Development shares a common subject and passion with IndieSider, I backed the Kickstarter and invited Russ on the show to discuss how he narrowed his project from a chronicle of video game luminaries around the globe to indie game developers in Chicago; what he learned from the project’s first failed Kickstarter in August 2015; what will happen to his original project’s footage of John Romero and family; and what other cities he hopes to expand Stage of Development to next. The interview was recorded between shoots while Russ was on location in Chicago.

Download the audio edition of this podcast from Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Stage of Development by Flying Saucer Media


• Stage of Development: Indie City Edition by Russ Pitts on Kickstarter


• 2015 Kickstarter (canceled)


• Footage of the Romero Family


• Russ Pitts of Take This on Polygamer #7


• Desert Bus for Hope: The Documentary on Kickstarter


• John Romero as KansasFest 2012’s keynote speaker