Local filmmakers premiered a feature length documentary this month, highlighting Tucson gaming company Running With Scissors and its “Postal” game series. 

In a nearly six year process, co-directors Tad Sallee and Jason Sikorsky as well as assistant producer Atreyu Hasenstab, all UA alumni, created “Going Postal: The Legacy Foretold.” The film explores the company’s tumultuous history and seeks to spark conversation about the impact of violent video games from a variety of perspectives, they said. 

“This is an underdog story about two dudes who are living and breathing in Tucson, Arizona,”  Sikorsy said. “They’re just trying to make something that their fans would adore and something that their fans love.”

Finding the story

Sikorsky, a 2013 graduate from UA School of Film and Television, is now a filmmaker based in Phoenix. He said his career path looks different than that of most of his peers.

“I was probably one of the few, along with Tad, that ended up staying in Tucson and doing what our passions are,” he said.

Before becoming documentarians, Sikorsky and Sallee intended to create short form content online platforms like Youtube. Then, they learned that the famous game franchise “Postal” had been created right here in Tucson by the company Running With Scissors, Sikorsky said. 

The filmmakers sat down with Mike Jaret-Schachter, vice president of Running With Scissors.

After that, their goals shifted completely. 

“He told us the, at that time, 20 year history of Running With Scissors and their trials and tribulations – we were just astonished,” Sikorsky said. “So we decided that we wanted to produce a feature length documentary.”

‘Postal’ controversy

Running With Scissors created “Postal” nearly 25 years ago, with its first game debuting in 1997.

The company branched off from Riedel Software in an effort to create games Founder Vince Desiderio wanted to play himself, Jaret-Schachter said.

They sparked controversy right off the bat.

The 1997 release shocked the world with its unfiltered violence and darkness. The “Postal” franchise became globally controversial and was met with public and government disapproval. 

“It was the first game where you could actually kill people and not just monsters and aliens, so it gained a lot of notoriety back then because of its content,” Jaret-Schachter said.“It was very shortly after banned and blacklisted all over the world, including in the United States.”

Today, the company remains banned in New Zealand and Germany. 

Despite years of legal battles and blows to the company name, the game series has attracted a large fanbase, selling over 10 million copies, Sikorsky said. 

That fan base helped to increase the budget of the film through fundraising campaigns, allowing the filmmakers to elevate the production value of the film, he added. 

“To be working on a $150,000 to $200,000 documentary that we’re personally financing, but also financing through the fans, it’s a huge undertaking and a large endeavor for a very small crew,” he said. 

‘Going Postal’

The film centers around Jaret-Schachter and Desiderio and follows their lives through five years of filming. 

“Whether it’s them working out or bowling or working in the office or talking about video games,” Sikorsky said. “We just picked their brains for five years and got introduced to their tool network.”

Sallee, who studied film and journalism at the UA, said the film includes interviews from around the world with legends from both the film and gaming industry. These figures, like John St. John, Larry Thomas, Zach Ward and Uwe Boll, add either personal experience, expert perspectives or historical knowledge about “Postal” and the video game industry as a whole. 

As the documentary flicks through clips of old news reports on the franchise’s public scrutiny, viewers also see striking scenes of those who despise the game, die-hard fans and, of course, Desiderio and Jaret-Schachter. 

The project was intended to be released in 2022, Sallee said, but plans for the film’s ending changed after “Postal 4,” which came out during post-production, received poor ratings. 

“It was critically rated as one of the worst video games of 2022. We see this and we have an epiphany, ‘How do we navigate with this?’” he said. “In a way, it actually worked out because it’s these guys who’ve been kicked down over and over, then Postal 4 comes out there kicked down again – but they’re still going at it even now and it didn’t stop them.”

The documentary’s final moments now highlight the company’s efforts to connect with the community, and fans share their personal experiences with games. It aims to show viewers the dedication of Running With Scissors and its ultimate cultural significance, the filmmakers said.

Exploring video game violence

The filmmakers said “Going Postal” also creates space to explore the history of video game violence and its potential effects on people’s behavior. 

“The conversation is even more important today, because back in the 90s, video games, when they came out, it was shocking,” Sallee said. “We’re a little bit more desensitized to this type of content, so I think that’s why we wanted to cover some of these controversial aspects in the film to re-strike up those conversations again.”

David Locko, a psychology researcher with a Ph.D from Masaryk University, said the impact of violent video games on behavior is not black and white, and it can be difficult to isolate video games as a major driver of aggression in adolescents.

”In reality, there are over 3 billion gamers worldwide, yet global levels of aggression are influenced by far more significant social, political and historical factors,” he said in a written statement.

Younger children require more careful consideration, he added, and parental involvement in a child’s gaming experience can be a benefit in mitigating potential risks. 

Desiderio said the company’s video game production is a reflection of their own interests, and that they plan to continue making violent games. 

“On a personal level, [I hope] the film will capture the spirit of independence,” he said “Hopefully this movie captures not only the history, but a lot of the factual history – it should have journalistic integrity. We’ve always, from the very beginning, made a game that we believe is fun. We don’t make it for everyone.” 

Tucson made

The filmmakers said this project to be especially meaningful because they were able to tell a local story about an international scandal. 

“Being Tucsonans and going to U of A and just conceptualizing this project with a company that’s based out of Tucson,” has been a uniquely fulfilling experience, Sikorsky said. 

“Nine out of 10 people dropped out of the industry post-grad, and nobody’s really making a movie or telling a story anymore,” he added. “We want to tell a story, we want to have fun and we’re going to keep doing it because we’re crazy enough to put our own money and just have a good time with it– and that’s art.”

“Going Postal: The Legacy Foretold” made its world premiere on March 29 at the Phoenix Film Festival. The film will also premier locally at the Arizona Film Festival on April 6 at 12 p.m. The filmmakers will also hold free screening for college students at the Marroney Theatre at the University of Arizona on April 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.