EDHREC: How would you best summarize The Gathering is the Magic?

Wilson: The Gathering is the Magic is a film about how the game brings people together, fosters friendships, and how the community of players of Magic: The Gathering has a community like no other through four personal stories for some content creators you have heard about and a few unsung heroes that maybe you haven't.

How long have you been working on this project? Have there been any challenges with getting things together for it?

It is always hard to pin down the exact moment a film goes from an idea to something you are actively working on. I had first produced a shoot in Louisville back in 2020. We were supposed to start shooting on March 21, but COVID-19 had other plans. There was a point during COVID where I thought my career as a creative person was over, and I got a job working in commercial real estate. I felt like I was dying inside, and I just had this sense I needed to get out of there and make something, or I would go crazy.

Eventually, we started actually filming this documentary in April of 2022, so just over 4 years.

Your documentary examines the Magic: The Gathering community from many different angles. What was the most surprising or interesting thing you learned from the community during this time?

I initially set out to make a very different film, but after our first shooting weekend at SCG Ft Worth in 2022, I had a really strong feeling that the film might be more interesting if it were about the people who play Magic rather than the game itself. I started playing in 1994, and I've had several phases of being really involved in the game over the years. Spending time at a local game store (LGS), going to conventions, even just playing kitchen table Magic, there was always this sense of camaraderie I didn't get anywhere else.

I wanted the film to be about that. I wanted someone who had never played Magic to be able to watch the film and get a sense of what it feels like to show up at an LGS for an event, not knowing anyone there, and feeling accepted and part of the group as soon as you start shuffling cardboard. The only way I could bring you into that is to follow the stories of individuals and observe how their lives were impacted by the game and the people they met while playing the game.

During this filmmaking process, you had to get in touch with a lot of Magic-centered personalities. Were there any events you needed to attend to track down anyone in particular?

This was a pretty different experience for me as a filmmaker. In my previous projects, working as a producer on scripted features, there was always a blueprint. We had a script, the script told the story, and we tried to shoot the script as well as we could with the time allotted and the resources available.

With a documentary, I feel like more of a detective. Pretty much every event we attended, I had set up interviews with whoever I could ahead of time. We would shoot those interviews early in the morning before the doors opened or later in the evening after they closed.

During the day, I would have the crew shooting B-Roll while I'm prowling around the floor looking for new stories. I'm always trying to meet new people or connect with high-profile MTG folks that I couldn't connect with before. So you are always finding clues or little pieces of what the story is and trying to build it from those.

In terms of trying to connect with someone at an event, I think the biggest one was Brandon Sanderson. I am a big fan of his books, and I was pumped he was planning to attend one of the events we were at. I knew he was big into Magic and had an insane collection. I tried like a maniac to get an interview, but his schedule wouldn't allow for it. I got to watch him play in a Cube with some big pros like Reid Duke, but I didn't get to speak with him.

We did get a little B-Roll of him playing with Reid, though. Keep your eyes peeled for his cameo.

If you were to produce a follow-up piece for The Gathering is the Magic, who would be a few of your dream interviewees?

Funny you should mention that. There were so many wonderful personal stories we discovered in this process that there are several I can't fit into this film that I think would make a great doc as well. Maybe there is a possibility of a sequel if people respond well to the first one.

I think if I got to shoot more, I really want to talk to Mark Rosewater and some members of the Creative team. I would love to learn more about how the game is made, and what kind of personal stories the people who work at Wizards of the Coast have to share.

What has been your approach when navigating the Magic community? How do you get people to open up to you?

Interestingly, a lesson I learned early in the process was that you just have to let them know you are a part of the community as well. On our first trip, we got out on the floor that first morning, and it was like we had a force field around us; people were staying away from the camera, not wanting to look our way. My DP, Rebecca Flores, was like, "What are we going to do if they won't talk to us?" and I went over to the registration table and signed up for a sealed event.

Once I sat down at a table to open my packs, the people who were sitting with me were suddenly very open to being in the shot and were curious about what I was doing.

By the end of the first round, after I won my first match, I could see the attitude in a table or two radius had shifted to a more curious vibe. By lunchtime, people were just walking up to the camera and starting to tell their stories. After that, I always come to events with several decks in my backpack.

I try to be prepared to play anyone in as many formats as I can. (I'm usually packing Commander, Pioneer, Modern, and Oldschool. I can make Standard decks, but rarely do in paper unless I find something I really love while playing Arena.)

Are there any documentaries that inspired you while creating this one?

The King of Kong was something that Rebecca and I both watched, which we talked about when we were just starting to plan the project. I love that this game led us to these crazy stories about the top players of Donkey Kong. Also, Eye of the Beholder, by Cavegirl Productions, was something I supported on Kickstarter, and it kind of gave me this confidence that I could do this kind of documentary, present it on Kickstarter, and actually get supported. That doc looked at the artists behind D&D and told their stories in a cool way.

Finally, what have you learned about yourself while making The Gathering is the Magic?

I think one thing that has always led me to put the cards away (and sell my Power 9) ultimately was shame. I didn't want to be seen as a nerd or a loser by people who didn't play the game. I quit before I went to college, because I wanted to be a cool kid, and cool kids don't play Magic.

I remember moving to Los Angeles after college and going to an LGS to play because I didn't know anyone, but I wouldn't tell people outside an LGS I like Magic. Doing this doc and getting to know so many other people in this community really made me think about what that means. Am I a nerd? Absolutely. Should I be ashamed of that? Absolutely not.

What I think I have learned through this process is really the ability to own that and not to feel like I need to hide it or disavow it in any way. Yes, I'm a grown-ass man who plays a card game about magic and writes comic books. If you don't like that, then that is on you. I'm going to be over here doing my thing and enjoying my life the way I want to enjoy it. I don't need anyone else's approval.