‘Mass Effect’ Video Game Designer Creates a Sci-Fi Short Film

Edward J. Douglas is a filmmaker and video game storyteller who loves sci-fi, cooking, and binging old Star Trek. He has a long history of working in the video game industry and has worked on famous games such as Mass Effect, Need for Speed, and LittleBigPlanet. Based in Vancouver, Canada, he recently returned to his film roots by creating multiple award-winning sci-fi short films. Swiped is one of those shorts and it has quickly become a beloved title to watch on Reveel. We have interviewed Edward J. Douglas to learn more about his creative process and his filmmaking passion that draws him back to the industry time and time again.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

1. Can you tell us what Swiped is about in your own words? What was the message that you and Daniel Roy wanted to convey?

Edward: Swiped was inspired when Dan and I were in one of our regular story jam sessions and asked, “what happens when augmented reality becomes real and mass-accessible and all the annoyances of the modern internet invade that new space.’ Spam-bots, popups, annoying adverts. It’s coming!

2. What were the biggest obstacles to getting Swiped made?

Edward: Swiped was surprisingly easy for a film. My goal was to see what I did and didn’t know about filmmaking after years away from the biz making video games. The script came together surprisingly fast, and we basically shot the first draft. The cast was a couple of wonderful actors that I had long wanted to collaborate with, and as a single-location 4-page script with 3 actors, it kept our scope tight and avoided anything that could distracted from the characters and story.

The one real challenge was in our first rough cut audiences weren’t connecting with Melody as much as we hoped. The whole dating app was added in editing (originally it was some friends’ instagram-style vacation photos). The old classic storytelling adage – We’re interested in people who are interested in things. We had to give her something she was more interested in – she’d rather think about love (or at least sex) than work, and that was the key to really make it work.

3. What were some takeaways from directing Swiped that you have applied to other projects?

Edward: Keep it simple! In other recent short films, we had solved problems by adding things to the script. Swiped was so tight yet said so much in it’s 4 minute run-time. Whenever you can, solve story problems by reduction rather than addition.

4. With a history working in video games, what draws you to the film industry? What led you to take on the role of film director?

Edward: On the first day of film school we were asked who wanted to be a director. I was the only one who didn’t put up their hand. My goal was to be a cinematographer. A couple of years into the film business in my very early 20s, I got an opportunity to create cinematics for video games with Electronic Arts. Over nearly 15 years in that business with a variety of roles including writing, designing, producing, and eventually directing, I had to admit my first love was always film — linear narrative storytelling. Over the past few years (COVID-delays notwithstanding), I committed to returning to those roots and my hope is to continue being able to tell stories to worldwide audiences in films, like I did in games.

5. What’s the biggest difference between creating a story for film vs video games?

Edward: The core difference is that in film everything is at the service of the story. Now in games, the story is at the service of the game. Every type of game connects with the player in a different way and uses different mechanics to create a huge variety of different types of experiences, so each game has different ways that a story can best support it.

6. Who are your filmmaking influences?

Edward: I was a child of the 80s & 90s growing up watching Star Trek & Spielberg. Star Trek was my first love and I had already tried to make two Star Trek movies of my own before I was 10. I’m inspired by stories that teach us empathy, the joys of discovery and of differences, of optimism and hope. Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

7. What’s next for you? Do you have any projects in the works?

Edward: I have a new sci-fi short film, U•Run (co-written by Daniel Roy), that’s just starting its festival run. It’s in the same type of universe as Swiped, but decidedly not a comedy. Watch the trailer here: U•Run (2022) TRAILER | Sci-Fi Short Film

And after that, I’ve got both some new video game and feature scripts coming up. I also dabble in visual effects and love to meet new filmmakers to support their projects in that department as well.

Swiped is a sci-fi short film about Melody, a woman who decides to swipe a few hot guys on her augmented reality dating app before she meets her match in a man who may be more—or less—than meets the eye. Watch Swiped for free on Reveel!