The Hobby is a fun documentary about board games from Toronto filmmaker Simon Ennis.
It was screened in Austin for the 2024 South By SouthWest (SXSW) festival.
We subsequently had a chance to sit down with the director.
Simon Ennis (Toronto)
as well as board game experts
Dan Corbett (Toronto),
Candice Harris (Los Angeles) 
and Daryl Andrews (Toronto) at SXSW.
Please have a look at the article from last week for The Hobby Part 1
HNMAG: When did you first become interested in Board Games?
Simon Ennis: I played games my whole life and there were some that I particularly liked but it was probably around 2018 that I started getting really curious. I went to GenCon.
HNMAG: Where is GenCon?
Simon Ennis: GenCon is in Indianapolis. It’s the biggest board game convention in North America. That opened my eyes and blew my mind. By the time we started shooting, I was already deeply committed. I had to keep reminding myself that the movie had to work for both games and non-gamers alike.
HNMAG: Have you played The Last Summit?
Simon Ennis: No, I haven’t yet. I didn’t want to play it when we were making the film because I didn’t want to know if it was good or bad. I related to John’s creative pursuit and was invested in his story. Just in case I didn’t like the game, I didn’t want to colour it. When we are back in Toronto, we will finally play it.
HNMAG: Who does the cabin belong to?
Simon Ennis: Dan.
HNMAG: Is that in Cottage Country?
Dan Corbett: It’s in Land O’Lakes.
HNMAG: One of your earlier films, Man vs Machine. It’s about Jacques Villeneuve and Larry Walker.
Simon Ennis: It was part of a TSN series called Engraved on a Nation. We filmed Larry Walker’s dad going through batting practice in Maple Ridge at Larry Walker Field.
HNMAG: That’s awesome. He’s one of two Canadians in Cooperstown. What is the biggest take away from The Hobby?
Simon Ennis: The thing about the movie is, sure it’s about board games but really it’s about the people. It’s important to show a portrait of a world and subculture that I love. It’s about people’s passions, obsessions, and connections. The most important thing is it’s a movie about people more than just board games. It doesn’t really matter if you like or don’t like board games. You’ll meet a bunch of people that you’ll fall in love with.
HNMAG: You’ve been to SXSW years before with Lunarcy. Is it a different experience now?
Simon Ennis: It’s better because I have my film family and friends here with me now. Also this is the World Premiere. The last time we premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I just finished making the movie a week and a half ago. This is a wonderful place to launch a movie. We are thrilled to be here. This is our dream premiere.
HNMAG: Dan, you like all types of board games.
Dan Corbett: I do. I like the challenge of the strategy from a heavy-style game. The pressure to succeed is what motivates me personally. It makes me feel like I’m in touch with my peak intellectual state. Then there’s the enjoyment I get with people laughing and teasing each other in the back and forth you get with a party game. It’s a different thing but I enjoy that experience almost equally.
HNMAG: You competed at the World Series of Board Games (WSBG). Is it fair that they claim the winner will be the best board game player in the world?
Dan Corbett: They tell you before you attend which sixteen games will be part of the competition. There are some light games in the mix but if you wanted a chance to succeed you had to learn all sixteen games. You pick the games you enter but if you win, you’ll be pitted against others in a different game that none of you had played.
HNMAG: How long in advance do you know which games will be played?
Dan Corbett: Now they announced it a year before. The one I attended was the first one, so I just found out two months before the event.
Candice Harris: This year the War game Twilight Struggle will be one of the sixteen games at WSBG. It’s also a lifestyle game. It’s something that people make part of their lives, their entire world and play that game exclusively. Other lifestyle games are Magic: The Gathering, 18XX, which is about the stock market, Acquire, War Games. Acquire should have been everybody’s monopoly since it’s a more strategic, better version.
HNMAG: Have you ever been to WSBG Candice?
Candice Harris: No but I did have some friends that I knew that went to the first year but I’m not super competitive. I more thrive on game design and creativity.
HNMAG: Is that what you like about War Games?
Candice Harris: I love the tension. I love the history in them. It’s like another level because you’re taking an aspect of history and you’re incorporating that with strategic mechanisms. I get so curious about the history. All of a sudden I’m buying books.
HNMAG: You made your own game. From watching The Hobby, a War Game seemed like the style you would lean towards. Surprisingly, it’s a Rock N’ Roll game. It does make sense since you had that experience in the real world as a drummer. The name you came up with is Stage Left. Are you into Rush (Toronto)? Neil Peart was one of the best drummers. Rush’s live album was called Exit Stage Left.
Candice Harris: 100%! When I started getting into rock, I wanted to know who the best drummers were. I asked some older kids and they suggested I listen to Dream Theater and Rush and the Dave Matthews Band. Exit Stage Left was the very first Rush album that I got. That is exactly where the name Stage Left came from. Now we are changing the title of the game. It’s going to be called Rivals of Rock. I have had ideas jingling around about a historical game. I want to finish this one first.
HNMAG: It would be nice for a game to focus on some of the more problematic aspects of history. We should learn from the past.
Dan Corbett: There have been games that have been redesigned to remove the colonialism aspects. This is all about inclusivity. You want everyone to feel welcome and represented. Some older European games feel outdated and insensitive.
Candice Harris: The Zenobē Award is given to under-represented aspects of history and under-represented designers.
HNMAG: Dan, are you a big NBA fan?
Dan Corbett: Absolutely! My favorite team growing up was the Sonics. I was a big Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton fan. They were always getting beaten up by the Chicago Bulls. I hated Michael Jordan.
HNMAG: Daryl, you created the game Sagrada which was in the movie. Would you consider it a heavy game?
Daryl Andrews: No. It’s more of a light-medium game. Families can play it. It’s more involved than something like Sorry but not overwhelming.
HNMAG: You’re also from Toronto?
Daryl Andrews: I am but we lived in Waterloo for two years.
HNMAG: How well known is Malcolm Gladwell in Waterloo?
Daryl Andrews: You can’t go into anyone’s home without seeing a Gladwell book on the shelf.
HNMAG: How long have you been into board games?
Daryl Andrews: I kind of grew up liking board games but I was an only child, so it was hard to play. In the last ten years, I became really involved.
South By SouthWest can be overwhelming. It’s so big and covers many things. It’s about Films, Music, Tech, Business, and Education and completely takes over the downtown core of Austin, Texas. It’s fortunate that Simon Ennis had some idea of what to expect and a big team to help him celebrate. We had a great time with The Hobby team not just talking about their movie but also playing the game Can’t Stop. No, it’s not a retro-dance thing. It’s about getting three numbers to the top of the row between three and twelve without getting stopped and having to start from scratch. It’s a mix between Craps and Deal or No Deal. Can’t Stop is a good metaphor for The Hobby. Win or lose, you’ll have a great time just enjoying the ride.