Extra Life Post Production Fund

HELP US FINISH EXTRA LIFE

Extra Life has been filmed. Now, we need your help to finish it and bring it to audiences.

Your tax-deductible donation will directly support the post-production of Extra Life, a coming-of-age fantasy about grief, family, and finding the courage to face the things we would rather avoid before it's too late.

THE STORY

15 year old Harper finds her whole world turned upside down when her father becomes terminally ill and she is forced to move in with her aunt Lara. To help escape reality, Lara introduces Harper to a retro fantasy video game called Extra Life. It’s all button mashing fun till themes of death begin to surface in boss battles. Now in a race against the clock, Harper must level up emotionally in order to see her dad before it’s game over.

The film features Felicia Day as Lara, creator and star of The Guild and a beloved figure in the gaming community, who reaches more than 6 million followers across her social media platforms.

The film is also offically sponsorted by Tetris, one of the leading and most distinctive video game brands and franchises in the world.

At its heart, Extra Life is about something nearly all of us will experience: grief.

WHY THIS FILM MATTERS

We want Extra Life to help start conversations about grief and make those conversations feel a little less frightening. Grief is one of the most universal human experiences, yet we still struggle to talk about it. On screen, it is often treated as a plot point, a tragedy a character must overcome, or something that neatly resolves before the credits roll.

But grief isn't something you simply get over. You learn how to carry it.

Approximately 1 in 11 children in the United States will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. Harvard researchers have estimated that as many as 61% of young Americans frequently or always feel lonely, and approximately 1 in 5 high school students report seriously considering suicide. Those numbers underscore why creating space for difficult conversations about loss, loneliness, and mental health is so important.

Our hope is that a teenager watching Extra Life who has experienced loss might recognize themselves in Harper and feel a little less alone. We also hope the film gives parents, friends, teachers, counselors, and young people an easier way to begin conversations that can otherwise feel impossible to start.

WHY THIS STORY IS PERSONAL

After my father's unexpected death, I made it part of my mission as a filmmaker to help destigmatize grief. Video games were one of the ways my dad and I connected, so they became the perfect language for telling this story.

In Extra Life, Harper escapes into a retro fantasy game because fighting monsters feels easier than confronting what is happening in her real life. But eventually, she discovers that there are some things we can't outrun, even with an extra life.

The film balances an emotional story of loss with the adventure, wonder, and nostalgia of the video games many of us grew up playing.

BRINGING THE WORLD TO LIFE

Extra Life moves between two distinct worlds, the real world and the video game world.

For the real world, we're inspired by the textured look of classic films from the 1980s and early 1990s. We plan to use a film scan-back process to give the digitally captured footage a warmer, more organic film texture. This process allows us to digitally project the finished movie onto a film negative, to give it the look and feel as if we shot on film.

For the video game world, we plan to use 8-bit pixel animation and have signed on animator David Dutton, YouTube famous for his series 8-Bit Cinema. David will create approximately nine minutes of animation, immersing the audience in the same fantasy world Harper uses as her escape.

THE FILM IS SHOT. NOW WE NEED TO FINISH IT.

We're raising $28,500 to complete post-production and prepare Extra Life to reach audiences.

Your donation will help fund:

8-Bit Animation — $8,000
Film Scan Back — $5,000
Original Score — $4,500
Color Correction — $3,000
Sound Design & Mixing — $3,000
Poster & Promotional Material — $1,000
Film Festival Submissions and Travel — $5,500

TOTAL POST-PRODUCTION GOAL: $30,00

HELP US BRING EXTRA LIFE TO AUDIENCES

When you donate, you're doing more than helping us finish a film. You're helping us tell a story that can make a real impact and evoke change in how our society handles grief. You're helping someone experiencing grief feel seen, understood, and less alone.

You're helping us create space for conversations about loss and mental health. And you're helping us bring Extra Life across the finish line and into the world. Every donation, at every level, gets us one step closer.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation and helping us finish Extra Life.

Thank you for believing in this film and the conversation we hope it can create.