Cobble Hill Couple Creates Cool, New Board Game

Court Street residents Sara Farber and Bryan Wilson are one of those couples that just can't help being cute: When the couple moved to Cobble Hill three years ago, he proposed to her over coffee the first morning in their new apartment together. 

She was a 15-year content developer for kids’ toys and games, from Elmo to Mickey Mouse to SpongeBob SquarePants. As an Art Director, Wilson has created TV commercials, print ads and social media campaigns for M&Ms, Duncan Hines, AT&T and many other household names. 

Then on November 11, 2010—the third anniversary of their first date—the pair decided to merge their personal chemistry with creative interests and launch Galactic Sneeze, a “fun stuff think tank,” for producing their own concepts for toys, games and intellectual properties.

See, totally cute.

Their first product, a board game called Schmovie, will debut in spring 2013. But somehow the pair has already amassed more than 8,000 fans on Facebook and managed to give birth to a lovable 1-year-old baby girl in the meantime.

Here, Farber gives us the inside scoop on their upcoming game, maintaining date night, and how it all comes together.

Why did you choose Schmovie to be your first official game release?

Schmovie is actually a film-themed spinoff of an earlier game we designed… and we ended up liking it better than the original. Everybody loves movies, and our particular take on the theme is funny, fresh and different from all the trivia-based games that are out there.

Can you tell us a little about how it is played?

Schmovie is the “Hilarious Game of Giving Titles to Outlandish Films.” Each round, one person is a Schmovie Producer in search of the best title for his or her next blockbuster film. The Schmovie Producer rolls the genre die and flips over two cards to determine the premise. For example, “An action film about a killer sandwich.”

The other players then try to come up with the best or funniest or punniest names for that Schmovie and write them on their wipe-off boards. For example: “Last Action Gyro”, “Sleepy Challah,“ or “Rye Hard.” The Schmovie Producer reads them anonymously and presents a Schquid Trophy for his favorite. The first player to receive four Schquids wins!

What were your favorite movies growing up? Now?

My favorite movie growing up was The Dark Crystal. Current picks include Best in Show, The Empire Strikes Back, and Moonstruck. And my favorite Schmovie is “The Goatbook”. (You know… the drama about a lovestruck farmer)

Hilarious! So is the game directed at adults or children or both?

Schmovie is for players ages 12+. Our genre die has an icon on each of its six sides, five of which represent the following: romantic comedy, horror, sci-fi, action and drama. The sixth side has a question mark, which means the Schmovie Producer can choose any genre he or she would like. That’s how we’re able to work porn/adult film into a game that’s also perfect for family game night!

What other games can we expect from Galactic Sneeze down the line?

We are working on a bunch of other fun concepts, including an innovative collectible toy concept, an animated feature film, and of course… more games. We have a ton of ideas that we’re excited to develop. We just wish we had more time in the day!

Speaking of time, how the heck did you already get more than 8,000 Facebook fans when your product isn't even out yet?!

We’re thrilled to have amassed such a great following since launching this past spring. We post a new Schmovie premise every night at midnight—except Saturdays, our date night. Our fans post their titles, and the one with the most “likes” by the following midnight is pronounced the winner. Bryan creates a custom Schquid Trophy with the winner’s name and title.

We literally sit at our kitchen table (aka: Galactic Sneeze HQ) every night at 11:15 p.m. and start the process of creating the trophy, writing the copy for the winner and coming up with the next Schmovie premise.

And how is your newest addition doing amid all the excitement?

We now have an almost one-year-old baby girl, who is the best thing ever. She was just a few months old when we launched our play-along Facebook page. Needless to say, the Farber/Wilson household is a bit sleep deprived. But happy.

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Look for a physical version of Schmovie to appear in Spring 2013. In the meantime, you can play or follow along on @Shmovie on Twitter and at https://www.facebook.com/Schmovie