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Lights, camera, let’s play

Haiku resident creates card game in a film can

Haiku resident Renee Confair is the mastermind behind getCrewd, a multiplayer card game that offers a backstage pass to the high-stakes world of filmmaking. ASHLEY SMITH photo

Ever wonder what it takes to make a movie? There’s a new card game that puts you in the producer’s seat — no trip to Hollywood required.

The getCrewd party card game is the brainchild of Haiku resident Renee Confair, a Hawaii-based producer and production manager whose long list of credits includes “The Descendants,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” “Battleship,” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

For Confair, getCrewd is a dream come true. Literally.

Three years ago, Confair decided she wanted to invent something, but wasn’t entirely sure what that “something” would be. One night, she had a vivid dream about a card game and awoke the next morning with a plan.

After two years of painstakingly piecing it together, Confair debuted getCrewd in September during a game-night-themed launch party at Oahu’s Kualoa Ranch, known as “the backlot of Hawaii” (many household-name television shows and movies have been filmed there, most notably “Lost” and “Jurassic Park”).

Perfectly suited for game night, getCrewd appeals to film buffs and game enthusiasts alike. The Maui News / TERRIE ELIKER photo

Cleverly packaged in a vintage-style film reel canister, getCrewd is equal parts strategy and fun. The objective is for each player-slash-producer to get his or her movie greenlit by filling seven positions: a director, actor and five crew members. Players receive a budget and movie genre — superhero, adventure, romantic comedy or crime — and take turns drawing from the deck until they have a genre-specific director and actor, along with five different crew members.

The rules are simple: Stay on budget. No duplicate cards. And the first player to “crew up” their movie with all seven cards wins the game. It’s straightforward, but there are a few wild cards thrown into the mix (some in the same vein as the dreaded “draw four” Uno card) to take the competition up a notch.

Confair says you don’t have to be a cinephile to enjoy getCrewd.

“If you’ve watched one movie, you can play,” she said.

For those unfamiliar with industry terms like “hair-in-the-gate” (when debris gets stuck in the camera) or “crafty” (the all-important crew member who brings food and drinks to the set), there’s a handy glossary on the getCrewd website.

The objective of getCrewd is for each player-slash-producer to get his or her movie greenlit by filling seven positions: a director, actor and five crew members.Image courtesy of Renee Confair

Will there ever be a sequel to getCrewd? That remains to be seen. For now, Confair says she’s thrilled to see people playing the card game she dreamed up three years ago.

“It’s like being on a movie with no ending,” she said. “It’s exhilarating.”

You can purchase getCrewd online at www.getcrewd.com for $24.95. You can also find it at the Kualoa Ranch gift shop, several game stores on Oahu and a handful of locations on the Mainland.

The game comes with two decks of cards and is rated PG-13. For retail locations or to learn more about getCrewd, visit www.getcrewd.com, www.facebook.com/getcrewdpartygame or www.instagram.com/getcrewd.

The objective of getCrewd is for each player-slash-producer to get his or her movie greenlit by filling seven positions: a director, actor and five crew members. Image courtesy of Renee Confair

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