STEVE DUNKELBERGER: DEAD GENTLEMEN MAKE A FILM>>>

While Tacoma has been the site of big hit movies over the years, it really hasn't been host of local talent that made a film that made it big. Until now.

Tacoma's Dead Gentlemen Productions has released its latest film and found it rocketing to the top of the Netflix request charts and selling out faster than they can burn the DVDs. The gathering of Pacific Lutheran University graduates turned actors and now movie moguls first made it big with their short film The Gamers a few years ago as it build a cult following among the comic book and roll playing communities of the world.

The movie went on  to be screened to rave reviews in dozens of film festivals and game conventions worldwide. It took home the award for Best Fan Film of 2003. The latest film, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, tells the story of Lodge, a dungeon master in a roll playing game and budding writer, who wants his gaming group to finish their adventure. They have other interests, including picking up girls and setting things on fire. He then tosses in a curve into the game by introducing one of the rarest animals to the roll playing community â€" a girl.

This parody takes good-humored digs at the gaming community in ways that the the holders of those odd shaped dice would find funny. It was a film that was obviously crafted instead of just filmed to be a throw-away sequel to its previous sleeper hit sibling.

"Those who've seen it are saying that jokes hit harder and funnier, which is a huge success in my book," Dead Gentlemen Productions Executive Producer Don Early says. "You don't have to know anything about Dungeons and Dragons or roleplaying games to get the movie, have fun and laugh hard. If you are familiar with the subject matter, it will be that much funnier. We really focused on making this movie accessible for everyone so we can widen our fan base. It's a real character movie that moves well and really shows you what playing roleplaying games are like. The first movie was more like a series of sketches strung together. We might revisit that model later in another movie, but for Dorkness, the character narrative was the next logical step for us."

[The local stars of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising will be holding a signing event at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 31, at Comic Book Ink, located at 1625 E. 72nd Street and Portland Avenue. More information is available at www.deadgentlemen.com or www.comicbookink.com.]