Indianapolis International Film Festival 2009

Shelly the chicken wasn't looking for a fight, but he found one. Can he face his fears and stand up for himself?

THE DUNGEON MASTERS is the story of three people who find self-expression in Dungeons and Dragons, the immensely popular role-playing game in which players called "Dungeon Masters" create elaborate fantasy worlds for their friends to navigate. The film follows the three as they struggle to maintain a creative life in the face of dire personal consequences, documenting their efforts to keep their dream worlds alive despite the mundane world's relentless attempts to grind them down.The players are:- Scott Corum, whose lively imagination has not yielded recognition or a livable income, andwho has thrown himself into an effort to write a fantasy novel that he hopes will changeeverything for him.- Richard Meeks, a city employee and Air Force Reservist. Meeks is a self-described "devious" game master who takes great joy in devising inescapable traps for his players-- even at the cost of real-world relationships.- Elizabeth Reesman, from the Katrina-ravaged gulf coast of Mississippi. Elizabeth meets the world dressed in the full body black makeup of the powerful "Drow Elf," seeking in the role a measure of control over the scarring experiences of her past.THE DUNGEON MASTERS is the story of a game and those who play it, but it is also a story of class in America, of the place where escapism battles against personal responsibility, and of how making space for the imagination as an adult can be a subversive act. Ultimately, it explores and celebrates the human need to tell, and to live, a story.