Deviation is a 2006 short film that was the first short film in the machinima genre to be premiered in competition at a major film festival, the Tribeca Film Festival. Background The 6 minute 12 second-long short machinima film Deviation, was written and directed by Jon Griggs of Hard Light Films. Using the virtual world of the online game Counter Strike, Griggs directed the virtual actors and recorded the footage using a DVX100. Deviation was entered as a candidate for shortlist and screening at the Tribeca Film Festival as part of the New York counterpart of Australia's Tropfest, Tropfest @ Tribeca programme, which celebrates the importance of short film in the filmmaking industry. Each entry had to include a signature theme; in 2006 this was the presence of a manhole cover. Deviation almost did not make it to the Tribeca Film Festival since, shortly before the film's premiere, the game manufacturer of Counter Strike, the Valve, refused to give permission for the film to be distributed for commercial use. Valve maintained that as intellectual property owners of Counter Strike, they had definitive rights over its distribution. In response, Griggs informed Valve of his intention to release a "protest video" version of Deviation in which all of Valve's intellectual property was removed, leaving just the actor's voices, music and story, and replacing the visuals with simple words and pictures depicting Grigg's struggle with Valve, and a call to viewers to support him. Valve eventually backed down and the all-clear was given for the motion picture to be released on 28 April 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival in front of a live audience of over 4,000 people. The motion picture is accompanied by an original score (composed and performed by Nicholas J. Sumner), original sound design by Neil Fazzari and actors’ voices to deliver the dialogue. The opening credits to the film announce that this is “a virtual film created online...with virtual actors performing across different U.S. States...who have never met each other in the “real” world”. Plot synopsis MacIntyre is a videogame character who begins to question his repetitive life within the context of his duties as a virtual soldier in a four-man counter-terrorist squad. Tired of running through the same tunnels every day, ascending the same manhole and getting killed in battle each time, he tries to encourages his superior, “Sgt” and the rest of his team (“Lizard” and