We’re still presumably a few days (or weeks) away from Comic-Con International unveiling the complete line-up of this year’s Independent Film Festival, but one film of 8-bit proportions will definitely be part of that line-up.

Emmy-winning director Kyle Roberts returns to the convention with his latest venture, Heroes of The Realm, after previously attending in 2014 to screen The Posthuman Project.

In the film, magic opens a portal to our world. This allows both heroes and villains from a world where magic reigns to slip through. To stop the evil sorcerer, it’s up to a pizza delivery woman to make the most important delivery of her life.

“Heroes of the Realm is a silly Sci-Fi Fantasy that uses our love for retro games and comedy to explore everyone having a purpose in this world, no matter if you’re ‘just’ a pizza delivery driver,” Roberts said.

The film stars Kate Le, Stephen Goodman, Kato Buss, Alissa Ford, and Raychelle McDonald. It was written by Matthew Price, Sean Thiessen, and Jon Skelly, and produced by Denise Castelli, Toni Marlo, and Roberts.

“I’m still on the edge of my seat. The excitement that went through my veins when I found out [we’re attending] is still there and I never want it to leave,” Goodman said. “It’s been a childhood dream to just go to the con, but now I have a film there? Whoa. That’s unbelievable.”

Heroes of the Realm had previously won best Oklahoma film at the Trail Dance film festival and the Indie Spirit Award at Juggernaut film festival in Chicago. It will be competing for the top prizes at SDCC this year.

Le said she thinks the success of the film signals in a small way the trend toward more diverse casting.

“I know that our project might be small, but it’s another step towards inclusive casting whether that be with women or with different races,” Le said. “I hope that this will inspire others to keep an open mind when it comes to including everyone into their cast, crew, or company. The entertainment industry has been shown lately that being as diverse as the world we live in is successful. It’s about abundance of opportunities and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

You’ll be able to catch the film on Thursday, July 21 at 3:30PM in the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina’s Pacific Ballroom23 – which, yes, is our first look at what that space will be used for. More on that coming up shortly.

You can find more information about Heroes of the Realm on their site.