Settlers of Catan, Mayfair Games’ perennial boardgame favorite has now inspired an independent short film, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. The Lord of Catan has already reached its $30,000 goal (as of this writing it is sitting at $42,105 with 25 hours to go), with the campaign closing Friday Jul 19th, at 7 PM CDT.

The Lord of Catan is a short film written and directed by Stuart C. Paul (who wrote DC’s Ides of Blood series), about how a married couple’s game night spirals out of control and thrusts them into an apocalyptic rivalry while playing an iPad version of Settlers of Catan. The movie stars Amy Acker and Fran Kranz, both veteran members of "The Whedonverse," having both starred in numerous Joss Whedon helmed projects including Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, and Much Ado About Nothing.

The film was shot in May, and the Kickstarter is being used to fund post-production and finishing the film. There are numerous pledge premiums available including invitation to an exclusive online premier movie-streaming party in October, limited edition Lord of Catan posters designed by Mark Dos Santos, digital downloads, production diaries, and physical copies of the film. The film itself should see Blu-ray and DVD production sometime next summer (currently estimated at July 2014), after a run through the film festival circuit.

When queried via email about the commercial distribution, director Stu Paul responded, "(C)ommercial release is still a ways down the line. I'm still focused on finishing the film. After that comes the festival circuit. At present, I have not spoken to any distributors about carrying the film."

"My plan has been to make digital downloads, DVD's and Blu-rays available on my website. Probably $5 for download, $15 for DVD, $20 for BluRay--but that's just a guess at this point."

Settlers of Catan sit firmly at the top of the ICv2 boardgame charts (see "Top 10 Board Games--Spring 2013") and Mayfair Games will be releasing a 5-6 player expansion for the Explorers & Pirates Extension in September (see "'Catan: Explorers & Pirates 5-6 Player Extension'").

Support the Lord of Catan Kickstarter!