Progression (paintball film)

Progression is a 2008 paintball film produced by DerDer Productions, featuring professional tournament players competing in the Paintball Sports Promotions (PSP) and National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) circuits. The film combines individual player profiles, interviews and tournament highlights, focusing on the techniques, personalities and competitive experiences of leading players.[1][2]

It was distributed as a double-disc DVD package alongside DerDer Nation Volume 2, which documented regional tournament competition during the 2008 season.[1]

Content

Progression focuses on individual professional players rather than following a particular team or presenting a conventional tournament season review.

The production uses music-driven highlight sequences and player footage to document different playing styles and approaches to competitive paintball.[1][2]

Featured players

The original promotional announcement identifies ten featured players:[1]

The film includes footage from PSP and NPPL tournaments, covering professional X-Ball and seven-player competition.

The player-focused approach allows individual competitors to be featured through their tournament performances rather than exclusively through their respective teams.

Production and release

Progression was produced by DerDer Productions and advertised for preorder on 5 November 2008.[1]

The original promotional announcement described the production as a montage of professional players, emphasising the strategy, sacrifice and athleticism associated with tournament competition.

The film was released as part of a double-disc DVD package that also included DerDer Nation Volume 2.[1]

The double-disc edition was subsequently distributed by paintball retailers in the United States and Europe.[3]

The exact commercial release date and original DVD running time have not been independently established.

DerDer Nation Volume 2

The second disc contained DerDer Nation Volume 2, a separate production documenting regional American tournament paintball during 2008.

The promotional announcement identified coverage from five events:[1]

XPSL Bakersfield
CFOA X-Ball Event 1
GPL Event 1
XPSL Las Vegas
XPSL San Bernardino

The second volume followed DerDer Nation, which had documented competition across the XPSL, CFOA and NEPL during the 2007 season.

Reception and legacy

In January 2026, Brandon Olson included Progression at number 20 in his retrospective ranking of paintball films for Paintball Dirt.[4]

Olson highlighted the individual segments featuring Oliver Lang, Brandon Short and Todd Martinez. He also singled out a speech by Mike Hinman to San Diego Aftermath as a memorable moment from the production.

The film has continued to circulate among paintball enthusiasts through online video archives and community recommendations.[4][5]

Availability

Progression is included in the DerDer classic paintball video collection hosted by BKi Paintball, which identifies it as a 2008 production.[6]

A copy of the film has also circulated on YouTube, with the video linked in a 2022 paintball film discussion on M.Carter Brown.[5]

The film was additionally included in a six-disc DerDer DVD collection alongside:

The six-disc collection was subsequently listed in the historical product catalogue of ANSgear.[2]

References

External links