Trivial Pursuits - A big movie about very little things

by Jennifer Deyonker Photos by Geoff George and Kuba Ingram

Ann Arbor, Michigan natives’ Chris and Mike Farah have collaborated on a fun and interesting topic: playing games in the pub. Trivial Pursuits, the movie, is set in downtown Ann Arbor. The cast and crew are 80% Michigan residents, and 25% are either college students at The University of Michigan, or recent graduates.

This is the first time the U of M has lent its name to a film shooting on campus. Go blue!

Creators Chris and Mike Farah grew up in the Ann Arbor area. Trivia l Pursuits main character Paul (Christopher Gorham) plays a student at the university that has lived in Ann Arbor all of his life, as well. He is about to graduate and has no idea what to do next. Well what else do you do when you can’t figure out how to spend the rest of your life? Take up pub trivia!

Writer Chris Farah said his inspiration for the film first came from his cousin, a trivia buff. Chris and his cousin often went to play pub trivia and “knocked them off their socks.” Chris said that he would sit by and watch as his cousin answered every question. They won three weeks in a row. “We took it very seriously but the only thing you’d ever win was a bottle of cheap wine!” In 2005, Chris had a vision of shooting a film about pub trivia, and in 2008, after a bar conversation with an A2 grad student, he set the wheels in motion.

We asked Chris if he had any advice for up and coming Michigan screenwriters and he replied: “do not be afraid of telling stories that are particular to Michigan - stories that are Michigan stories! Not just because, when you shoot here, those stories really appeal to the people your shooting with (that has been helpful here with locations). But also because, in my opinion, the most universal stories with the most universal themes are actually very specific stories.

If it is a story about some generic guy, living in some generic town that didn’t even have a name on it, the story loses its oomph - that likeability for people to relate to! Once you make it specific, it’s almost paradoxical. It really allows people to draw parallels between the story and their own situation.

Chris’ brother Mike worked at United talent Agency in Los Angeles for nearly three years, and for the past year has been running Will Farrell’s comedy website “Funny or Die.” Mike is producing the Farah brother’s first feature film on a budget of less than $500,000.

Mike told MMM “it is wonderful to come back to where my brother and I grew up and to help give something back t o the community. We love the city! We loved growing up here! The entire movie is about college graduate students in the Ann Arbor area. In fact the last day of filming, September 5^th was the very first U of M football game! Between the film incentive program, and a personal family connection to Ann Arbor we c ould not have made this movie anywhere else.”

“Without the partnership of the university, this film would not have been possible. We have a 28 day shooting schedule and we are filming a t otal of 30 different locations. It was fun taking local personalities and finding a way to make them truly an organic part of the movie.”

Mike met Co-Producer Anna Wenger on the set of Black Snake Moan in Memphis. Anna Wenger hails from Long Beach California. Anna handles everything that needs to be done on a daily basis. All of the physical production goes through her first! Managing the budget is her biggest job, but she had to go above and beyond that for this production and act as a line producer as well! The line producer is in charge of finding the crew, make-up artists, locations, where to park, eat, sleep, and of course scheduling, scheduling, scheduling!

Anna told MMM “I love Michigan. I think it’s beautiful! Ann Arbor is spectacular. I cannot believe how pretty it is. On my first day here I s aw deer, raccoons and a beaver! I was very excited about seeing a beaver! I love the air here and the people are super nice. When you hear tales of the Midwest from California, this just doesn’t seem to match! It’s ve ry artsy here, and people always talk about the Midwest as being so conservative. The food is also great! I love it! I also had the pleasure of seeing Lake Michigan and it reminds me of the ocean. It is super clean and gorgeous!”

We also had the opportunity to speak with lead actor Christopher Gorham, a very down to earth guy from Fresno California. Christopher is listed as one of “People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People” in 2007, appeared on Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island and stars in another soon to be released film My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend co-starring Alyssa Milano. He brought his whole family along to get a feel for Ann Arbor!

Christopher told MMM “the lead character’s name is Paul and he is the son of a famous professor at the University of Michigan. The professor is played by Ralf Williams, a well known professor on campus and academia in general. The story is about a kid who has been in grad school way to long and feels like he is caught in his dad’s shadow. Through pub trivia, and a freshman girl he meets, he is finally able to grow up, stand up for himself, and go out and d o the things that truly make him happy.”

Gorham joined the cast after reading the script and told MMM “it’s funny and I think overall it is going to be a great film.” He knew Mike Farah from working with him on “Funny or Die” and he says he simply went and auditioned for the part and got it! Christopher said “it wasn’t a really complicated process and everyone involved from cast and crew has been absolutely wonderful. They have hired really great people and I think it’s going to turn out wonderful”

Christopher also told us “I think it is exciting that this film, and others, is essentially building an infrastructure that will allow many more productions to happen here. There is a ton of talent in Michigan and certainly a definite need for the business in this state. Christopher concluded with the following advice “Fear will kill you, so you just have to go and do it!”

Ashley’s Pub, at the corner of State and E William St, was center stage for many of the films pub trivia matches. With its first stop off campus location, great food, and global brew selection, Ashley’s is already one of Ann Arbor’s favorite student haunts. As Trivial Pursuits reaches the theaters, Ashley’s cult following will no doubt grow even more. We predict T shirt sales will double!

Trivial Pursuits has been filmed with one of the highest quality digital cameras, the RED. Some recent large budget films shot with RED include Knowing and District Nine. The film is tentatively scheduled for release in April, 2010. So if you are a Michigan native with fond Ann Arbor memories - or from elsewhere and curious about this small, soulful town in Michigan, that spawns sports legends like rabbits, keep an eye out for Trivial Pursuits. Created by Ann Arbor veterans, it is bound to provide a lot of laughs, and show off wolverine town - on game.

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