''All Work All Play'' is a 2015

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by

Patrick Creadon Patrick Creadon (born May 4, 1967) is an American filmmaker known for his work in documentaries. His first film, '' Wordplay'', profiled ''New York Times'' crossword editor Will Shortz and premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film ...

. It explores the growing

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

industry and follows professional gamers as they compete in the

Electronic Sports League ESL Gaming GmbH (formerly known as Electronic Sports League) is a German-French esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, and the oldest that ...

's 2014 Intel Extreme Masters World Championship. The documentary was screened as a "work in progress" at the 2015

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. To commemorate its official release,

Fathom Events Fathom Events is an entertainment content provider that broadcasts entertainment events in movie theaters throughout the United States, including Metropolitan Opera Live in HD, the performing arts, major sporting events, and music concerts. The ...

and By Experience broadcast two special screenings of the film, each of which was followed by a panel discussion with the creators and cast. For ''All Work All Play'''s international theatrical release, Fathom Events and By Experience released the film in 1,200 theaters worldwide.

Synopsis

The documentary primarily focuses on professional ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' players as they vie for spots at the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship, an annual esports competition held in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The film also follows Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, the managing director of

ESL English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

, and details his ascension from gaming enthusiast to organizer of the IEM Championship.

Cast

Creadon interviewed several professional gaming teams for the film, including American teams

Cloud9 Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 ...

and

Team SoloMid TSM (initialism derived from the previous name Team SoloMid) is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy Dinh, Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in ''Apex Legends' ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n team GE Tigers.

References

{{Reflist Esports films 2015 documentary films 2015 films Films directed by Patrick Creadon