The Story of Everything
A Proposal · Two Companion Experiences

Beyond the
Theatre

Extending the film's evidence into an interactive app and a card game — turning a nationwide theatrical event into a lasting conversation.

Executive Summary

Two products, one mission

We propose extending The Story of Everything beyond the theatre with two companion products — a mobile app and a card game — that carry the film's evidence into homes, classrooms and conversations long after the credits roll.

The Companion App

Watch the film, then pull the thread — an X-Ray layer turns any scene into a guided, science-rich deep dive.

X-Ray deep dives80+ topics$29 · one-time

The Card Game

A 40–150 card trivia game where every answer teaches — ask on the front, learn the real science on the back.

40–150 cards6 categories$24.99 retail
Creative Direction

The look we'll carry across both

Both products inherit the film's identity directly — a single, cinematic system so the app and the game feel unmistakably part of the same world.

The Story
of Everything
Cosmos · The House Style
Direction

Cosmos

The theatrical look, carried whole. Full-bleed cosmic imagery, a near-black void, antique gold as the single accent, and a parchment serif voice. Awe-driven and cinematic — it sells the wonder first, then the evidence.

  • Void-black canvas · cosmic full-bleed imagery
  • EB Garamond display · Inter for interface
  • Antique gold accent, used sparingly
Core palette
01Audience & Market

A built-in audience,
ready to go deeper

The film arrives with a national platform and a team with a proven box-office record. These two products turn that momentum into a durable, year-round relationship.

630K+
Discovery Institute subscribers, friends & followers
Existing reach to activate
290+
Media interviews by Center experts in 2025
Credibility & press engine
$2.1B
U.S. faith & family entertainment market
The commercial opportunity
1,000+
Theatres in the nationwide theatrical run
The conversion moment

Faith & Curious Families

Households who follow the film's themes and want to keep exploring together — the core retail and gift buyer for the game, and the everyday app user.

Retail · Streaming

Students & Educators

High-school and college classrooms, youth groups, and homeschool networks seeking a credible, discussion-ready resource on science and origins.

Curriculum · Group play

The Theatrical Audience

Everyone who sees the film during its nationwide theatrical run — a captured, motivated audience to convert from a single screening into an ongoing relationship.

Launch window
02
02The Companion App · iOS & Android

Watch the film.
Then pull the thread.

The film raises a hundred questions it can't fully answer in 100 minutes. The app is where the curious go to chase every one of them — built around an X-Ray layer that turns any scene into a doorway. A science-rich rabbit hole, by design.

How it works

One app, built around the X-Ray

Watch in-app

Stream the full film plus extended interviews — the home base the rest of the experience grows from.

X-Ray, synced to the scene

Pause on any moment and the app surfaces the topics, people and ideas on screen right now — pinned to the exact timecode, exactly like Prime Video's X-Ray.

Rabbit-trail deep dives

Each topic opens a short, narrated explainer with stats, diagrams and citations — then links onward to the next thread worth pulling.

Meet the experts

Tap any contributor to watch every moment they appear, read their bio, and jump to the research behind their claims.

Your personal trail map

Everything you explore is saved into a growing constellation of topics — your own map of the universe's biggest questions.

Share & discuss

Send a trail to a friend, small group or class, with discussion prompts built in — turning a solo rabbit hole into a conversation.

9:41
Welcome back
The Story of Everything
Continue · Chapter II
A Fine-Tuned Cosmos
Today's question
Why does the universe obey mathematics at all?
Featured trails
The Origin of Life
Chapter III · 5 dives
The Multiverse Objection
Chapter II · 3 dives
Home
Pick up where you left off, plus today's question and featured trails.
9:41
The Story of Everything
32:181:46:50
On screen now
X-Ray
Three threads worth pulling from this scene.
Cosmology
The Fine-Tuning of the Universe
4 min · narrated by Stephen Meyer
Physics
The Cosmological Constant
3 min read · with diagram
People
Allan Sandage, Astronomer
Profile · Mt. Wilson Observatory
X-Ray, live
Tap any moment to see what's on screen and where it leads.
9:41
Cosmology · Deep Dive
The Fine-Tuning of the Universe
4 min·Narrated by S. Meyer·Ties to 0:32:18

If the strength of gravity or the cosmological constant were altered by a fraction, stars, planets and life could not exist.

1 in 10¹²⁰
The precision of the cosmological constant — finer than hitting a coin across the universe.

Physicists call these the "anthropic coincidences." The film asks what best explains them.

Continue the trail
1The Multiverse Objection
2Information & DNA
The deep dive
A narrated explainer with the data, then the next thread to pull.
9:41
The Atlas
Explore Everything
84 topics · 5 chapters · your own path
Chapter II · A Fine-Tuned Cosmos
18 topics · 3 explored
IThe Question of Origins
IIA Fine-Tuned Cosmos
IIIThe Code of Life
Your trail map
Everything you explore becomes a personal constellation of topics.
9:41
The Voices
Meet the Experts
Tap anyone to watch every moment they appear.
Stephen C. Meyer
Philosopher of Science
8 clips ›
John Lennox
Mathematician
5 clips ›
Lee Strobel
Executive Producer
4 clips ›
Jay W. Richards
Philosopher
3 clips ›
Meet the experts
Tap a voice to watch every clip and read the research behind it.
In the wild

How it works in real life

The same engine adapts to wherever the curiosity strikes — a late-night rabbit hole, a classroom, a dinner table, a commute.

Walking out of the theatre

That night they reopen the film, scrub to the scene that stuck with them, and tap X-Ray to finally chase the answer it raised.

In the classroom

A teacher assigns a chapter's trail; students explore the evidence on their own, then the class debates what they found together the next day.

At the dinner table

One person shares a trail, everyone races the daily question — and the card game picks up exactly where the app leaves off.

On the commute

Offline study packs and a daily prompt keep the film's ideas turning over between viewings, no connection required.

9:41
Friday, May 8
9:41
SThe Story of Everythingnow
Today's question
Why does the universe obey mathematics at all?
A 2-minute read from Chapter II. Tap to find out.
The daily question
A bite-sized prompt arrives each day to keep the film's ideas alive.
9:41
Explore
fine-tuning
AllCosmosPhysicsDNAMind
12 deep dives
The Anthropic Coincidences
Chapter II · 4 min
Why Math Describes Reality
Chapter II · 5 min
The Fine-Structure Constant
Chapter II · 3 min
Carbon & Stellar Resonance
Chapter II · 4 min
Hoyle's Change of Mind
Chapter II · 6 min
Explore the library
Search and filter 80+ deep dives by topic, chapter or expert.
9:41
Share trail
Send
My trail · 3 stops
A Fine-Tuned Cosmos
1Fine-Tuning of the Universe
2The Multiverse Objection
3Information & DNA
Discussion prompt
"If the constants could have been anything, why are they exactly what life requires?"
Send to
Small Group
Class
Copy link
Share a trail
Send your trail — with a discussion prompt — to a group or class.
9:41
Chapter II
A Fine-Tuned Cosmos
18 topics · 2 explored
11%
The Cosmic Microwave Background
4 min read
The Cosmological Constant
3 min read
Carbon & Stellar Resonance
4 min read
The Anthropic Coincidences
5 min read
Hoyle's Change of Mind
6 min read
Browse a chapter
Work through a chapter topic by topic, tracking what you've explored.
03
03The Card Game · Family & Party

Ask the universe's
hardest questions.

A trivia card game in the spirit of Trivial Pursuit — but every answer is a teaching moment. Ask on the front, learn on the back. The film's evidence, around the kitchen table.

Ask on the front

A single, intriguing question drawn from one of six categories — designed to spark a guess and a debate.

Learn on the back

The answer, plus a short "Dig Deeper" note that teaches the real science behind it.

Collect all six

Win by answering across every category — leaving the table having actually learned something.

Cosmos & Origins
Who said the cosmos looks as if "a superintellect has monkeyed with physics"?
The Story of Everything№ 38
Front · the question
Cosmos & Origins
Answer
Sir Fred Hoyle
Dig Deeper
Hoyle predicted the precise energy resonance that lets carbon form inside stars. The fine-tuning so unsettled the lifelong skeptic that he coined the line that still haunts cosmology.
Featured in Chapter II · A Fine-Tuned Cosmos
Back · answer + teaching
Sample cards · one from every category

A taste of the deck

Cosmos & Origins
What 1965 discovery confirmed the universe had a beginning?
The Story of Everything№ 07
Fine-Tuning & Physics
Alter which constant by 1 in 10¹²⁰ and no galaxies form?
The Story of Everything№ 11
DNA & Information
How many letters of code sit inside a single human cell?
The Story of Everything№ 27
Mind & Consciousness
What “hard problem” asks why brains produce inner experience?
The Story of Everything№ 44
Great Thinkers
Who wrote the book that inspired this film?
The Story of Everything№ 31
The Big Questions
Leibniz asked: why is there something rather than nothing?
The Story of Everything№ 52
Six categories
Cosmos & Origins
How the universe began
e.g. What 1965 discovery confirmed the universe had a beginning?
Fine-Tuning & Physics
The dials of reality
e.g. Alter which constant by 1 in 10¹²⁰ and no galaxies form?
DNA & Information
The code of life
e.g. How many letters of code sit inside one human cell?
Mind & Consciousness
Who is asking?
e.g. What “hard problem” asks why brains produce experience?
Great Thinkers
The people & ideas
e.g. Who wrote the book that inspired this film?
The Big Questions
Why are we here?
e.g. Leibniz asked: why is there something rather than…?
Cosmos & Origins
What name did Fred Hoyle coin — meaning to mock it?
The Story of Everything№ 04
Fine-Tuning
Change this one number and no stars form. Which?
The Story of Everything№ 11
DNA & Information
How many letters of code sit in a single human cell?
The Story of Everything№ 27
Great Thinkers
Which astronomer called the evidence “a superintellect”?
The Story of Everything№ 38
The edition

The game format — the boxed set

The Collection — the boxed set

Retail flagship

The premium gift edition: a deck of 40, 75 or 150 cards across all six categories, a foil-stamped box, and a slim rulebook. Built for the shelf, the gift table, and the family that wants the whole journey.

  • 40, 75 or 150 cards · 6 categories · 2 difficulty levels
  • Premium retail & ministry-store price point
  • Natural film tie-in & holiday gift SKU
The Card Game · Collector's Edition
The Story of Everything
40–150 Cards · 6 Categories · 2–8 Players
Ages 14+ · 30–60 min
Choose your deck

Same price. Your call on depth.

The deck ships at one price — you decide how deep it goes. A bigger deck means more questions to take to market, and more for your team to review and approve. Pick the scope that matches the effort you want to put in.

40
cards
The essentials. A tight, high-impact deck — the lightest lift for your team to approve.
75
cards
The full experience. Broad coverage across all six categories at a comfortable review pace.
150
cards
The deep edition. The richest deck — more to approve, and the most for your audience to explore.
All three ship at the same price — 6 categories, 2 difficulty levels.
04
04The Content Approval Interface · We Do The Work

You approve.
We do the rest.

  • We identify the books with your team from Stephen Meyer’s work
  • We read them cover to cover and surface the strongest questions and answers
  • We write and fact-check each one across every difficulty tier
  • We lay them in front of you already drafted — nothing starts from blank
  • You review, edit a word if you want, and approve
Content Approval Interface — In Review
approve.thestoryofeverything.film/review
Content Approval Interface
Internal · TSOE
Review Queue
Inbox24
In Review8
Needs Feedback5
Approved112
Rejected9
Library
Deep Dives
Q&A Cards
Layouts
Sources
Contributors
RC
R. Chappell
Managing Editor
In Review
8 items need your review
Search content…
Fine-Tuning ✕
Q&AIn Review
Who said the cosmos looks as if “a superintellect has monkeyed with physics”?
Submitted by D. Klinghoffer · 2h ago
DiveIn Review
The Fine-Tuning of the Universe — narrated deep dive
A. Esau · 4h ago
Q&ANeeds Edit
How many letters of code sit inside a single human cell?
Dr. D. Axe · Yesterday
LayoutIn Review
Card back — “Dig Deeper” teaching layout v3
Design · Yesterday
Q&AFlagged
Leibniz asked: why is there something rather than nothing?
J. Richards · 2d ago
DiveApproved
The Origin of Biological Information — narrated deep dive
Dr. D. Axe · 2d ago
Q&AApproved
What did the 1965 detection of the cosmic microwave background confirm?
D. Berlinski · 3d ago
LayoutNeeds Edit
App — deep-dive reading screen, type scale v2
Design · 3d ago
Q&A CardFine-Tuning & PhysicsCard № A-114
Question
Who said the cosmos looks as if “a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology”?
Answer
Sir Fred Hoyle
Source
🔗 Hoyle, 1981 — Engineering & Science
Dig Deeper — Teaching Note
Hoyle predicted the precise energy resonance that lets carbon form inside stars. The fine-tuning so unsettled the lifelong skeptic that he coined the line that still haunts cosmology.
Reviewer Rating4.2
Accuracy
4.6
Clarity
4.1
Engagement
3.9
Reviewer Feedback
SM
Stephen Meyer1h ago
Accurate and well-sourced. Trim the quote on the card front for space — keep the full version on the back.
JR
Jay Richards40m ago
Agree. Suggest tagging this “Chapter II” so it surfaces in the app's fine-tuning trail too.
Add feedback…

Not public-facing — the simple interface where your team reviews what we’ve surfaced, edits if they want, and approves. Just buttons to push.

What the approval interface does

We do the heavy lifting.
You just push the buttons.

We read the books your team selects from Stephen Meyer’s work, pull the strongest questions and answers out of them across every difficulty tier, write and fact-check each one, and lay them in front of you already drafted. Your scholars don’t create from a blank page — they review what we’ve surfaced, edit a word if they want, and approve. That’s the whole job.

What we handle
  • Read every book you choose, cover to cover
  • Pull out the strongest questions and answers
  • Write them across every difficulty tier
  • Fact-check each one against the source
  • Organize it all in one place to review
The overwhelming bulk of the work — ours.
What’s left for your team
ApproveEdit a wordSend back
Three buttons. That’s the burden on your team.
05
05Go to Market

Sell it at the checkout.

The first and best place to sell the app and the game is the moment someone buys or rents the film. We launch on a custom Shopify store and attach both products as checkout add-ons — turning one transaction into three.

The strategy

Why average order value is everything

Paid acquisition for a single rental rarely pays for itself. The economics only work if each acquired customer is worth more — which is exactly what add-ons do.

Start at the film's checkout

At launch, home-video buyers and renters check out through our custom Shopify store — the warmest possible moment, when intent is already at its peak.

Raise the average order value

We attach the card game and the app as one-tap add-ons, so a $19.99 purchase becomes a ~$74 order — without finding a single new customer.

Make the CAC pay back

We've already paid to acquire that customer. A higher AOV turns a break-even rental into a profitable order — the difference between a campaign that loses money and one that scales.

Film purchase alone
$19.99 AOV
1.0× acquisition cost
Roughly break-even — every paid sale barely clears a ~$20 CAC.
Film + add-ons
$73.98 AOV
3.7× acquisition cost
Healthy — the same ad spend now returns a profitable, scalable order.
Illustrative — CAC and price points to be confirmed with your team. The principle holds at any realistic acquisition cost.
At checkout

One transaction, three products

What the buyer sees on the custom Shopify store — the film in the cart, with the game and app offered as one-tap add-ons.

Checkout — The Story of Everything
shop.thestoryofeverything.film/checkout
The Story of Everything· Shop
Secure checkout
Your order
The Story of Everything
Digital Purchase · Own it forever
$19.99
Complete the experienceAdd & save
The Card Game
40–150 cards · 6 categories · ages 14+
$24.99
The Companion App — One-Time Purchase
X-Ray deep dives synced to the film
$29.00
★ Best value
Film + Card Game Bundle
Film + Card Game · save 20%
$44.98$35.99
Order summary
Film (digital)$19.99
The Card Game$24.99
Companion App (one-time)$29.00
Subtotal$73.98
Average order value
$19.99$73.98
+$54.00 per order — from add-ons alone, on the same acquired customer.
What the customer actually sees

The checkout, on screen.

Two clean choices at the moment of purchase. Then — only after they decide — one more thank-you offer for the family. The mechanic that lifts AOV, designed.

shop.thestoryofeverything.film / own
Choose your edition

Own The Story of Everything

Pick how you want to experience the film at home.

Solo

Just the film

$19.99
Digital · Stream instantly
  • 1× digital film
  • Watch on any device
Choose
Best Value
The full set

Film + Card Game

$35.99 $44.98
Save 20% · Ships free
  • 1× digital film
  • 1× The Story of Everything card game
  • Discount applied at checkout
Choose
After they click Choose
Dev preview — mock prices, checkout disabled

One more option for the family

Your selection: Film + Card Game · $35.99

Get multiple copies of the film at a deeper discount — share with family or gift it forward.

3-pack family pack
Save 25% · Multiple copies of the film
$44.98
Most popular
4-pack family pack
Save 30% · Multiple copies of the film
$55.97
5-pack family pack
Save 40% · Multiple copies of the film
$59.97
or
Continue with my selection

Note: family packs include the film only.

The post-decision upsell is opt-in — it never gates checkout. If the customer skips, the order they already chose still completes.
How "add to cart" works
Surface at the right moment

Once the film is in the cart, relevant add-ons appear inline — “complete the experience” — never interrupting the purchase.

One tap to add

Items drop straight into the existing order. No second checkout, no re-entering payment — friction is the enemy of attach rate.

Bundle to nudge up

A discounted Watch + Play bundle makes the larger basket the obvious choice, pulling AOV up further.

Measure & tune

Track attach rate and AOV per order, and adjust offers and pricing — from the same content approval interface.

06Timeline & Milestones

From greenlight to launch
in six months

Both products are built in parallel — the card game ships in four months, the companion app in six.

6-Month Plan
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Month 4
Month 5
Month 6
The Card Game
4 months
Write · Design · Playtest · Print
The Companion App
6 months
Foundation · X-Ray · Deep dives · Beta · Launch
Month 1
Content surfacing begins, scholars start reviewing, and both builds kick off in parallel.
Month 4
The card game is complete, approved, and sent to print.
Month 6
The companion app launches on iOS & Android.
07Investment & The Ask

What it takes to build both

Two paid tracks, costed by subtotal.

The Card Game$35K
Question writing & editorial40–150 questions, fact-checking
Card & box designArt direction, layout, packaging
Playtesting & rulesSessions, balancing, rulebook
First print-run setupProofs, dielines, manufacturing setup
Subtotal
$35K
The Companion App$75K
Product design & UXFlows, screens, design system
iOS + Android buildNative apps, playback, accounts
X-Ray sync engineTimecode pinning + topic graph
Deep-dive content & CMSWriting, narration, diagrams, tooling
Subtotal
$75K
Grand Total
$110K
A single program budget for the two consumer products.
$35K
Card Game
$75K
Companion App
Not Included

Ongoing hosting costs, along with any post-launch changes or maintenance to the app, are billed separately and are not part of the budget above.

The opportunity
The film opens the question. These two products are how the audience keeps asking it.
Is there a mind behind the universe?