Taglines: Old friends in new positions.
The story centers on a 30-year-old (Jason Sudeikis) who is forced to grow up when his father decides to sell the family vacation home in the Hamptons, bringing an end to his tradition of throwing elaborate summer theme parties. Wanting to go out with a bang, he enlists his friends to throw one final party — an orgy.
When Eric Keppler?s (Jason Sudeikis) father Jerry (Don Johnson) informs the group that he plans to sell their beloved Hamptons getaway, the gang finds it hard to face the reality that the summers they have known since their teenage years are coming to an end. Memories of infamous themed house parties date back to their high school days and this news is devastating to the long time friends. In an effort to go out with a bang, Eric wants to throw one last epic party to trump all others and decides to orchestrate an orgy among him and his friends.
At first, no one except the always inappropriate Mike McCrudden (Tyler Labine) is on board but slowly, one by one the others agree to participate. Each thinking that by joining, it might help him/her resolve some personal issue. Sue Plummer (Michelle Borth) sees it as a chance to be with Eric after a missed opportunity years ago. Laura LaCarubba (Lindsay Sloane) thinks it might help her get past her body image issues.
Alison Lobel (Lake Bell) is coming off a bad break up and thinks it will be a nice change from the restrictions of a relationship. Doug Duquez (Martin Starr) and Willow Talbot (Angela Sarafyan) think it might help their on again off again romance. Adam Richman (Nick Kroll) has just been fired from a job that controlled the entirety of his 20s so he vows to make his 30s memorable and decides an orgy is just the thing to kick it off.
Intentionally not included are Glenn (Will Forte) and Kate (Lucy Punch) who already have a child and are about to get married. Unfortunately, the couple learns of the orgy on their wedding day and become furious that their best friends excluded them from this monumental event. They still believe that despite being parents and newlyweds, they are still hip and cool.
With the threat of a pending sale, Eric tries as hard as he can to ensure that the house does not get sold until after the Labor Day weekend orgy party. To do this, Eric begins dating one of his realtors, Kelly (Leslie Bibb), in an effort to convince her to hold off. When he unexpectedly begins to develop serious feelings for her, he starts to second guess his participation in the orgy and threatens to dismantle the entire plan. No one could have anticipated how the evening would change their lives and the lessons that would be learned from one night of debauchery.
About the Production
It was quite a long road bringing “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” to fruition. Writers Alex Gregory and Pete Huyck originally began writing the script in 1997 when the two were writers for HBO‟s “The Larry Sanders Show.” The idea for the screenplay derived from a story told by a fellow writer about a party he attended in the Hollywood Hills which haphazardly ended in an orgy.
“We didn’t believe him because we figured people our age were too full of shame, fear, and guilt to actually make a successful orgy happen.” tells Gregory. However, as outlandish as it seemed, this story sparked an idea for him and Huyck. “The more we decided it was an improbable event, the more we thought it might make an interesting ensemble comedy, because of all of the powerful emotions a sexually charged and complicated situation like an orgy could stir up.” explains Huyck.
The pair brought the first draft of the script to their TV agent who, in not so many words, told them to shelve the idea. However, they were undaunted by this initial reaction. “He was terrified that the respectable folks that run the networks would think we were either perverts or certifiably insane. Naturally, we showed it to anyone willing to read it,” jokes Gregory.
After circulation of an early draft of the script made the rounds, the pair went through a series of producers to assemble the perfect production team. Once the producers were in place, the two began to think about who should be cast in the leading role. Early on, they set their sites on Vince Vaughn and while Vaughn ultimately did not wind up in the film, his input during these primitive stages greatly influenced the direction which the story would eventually go.
“Vince Vaughn gave us the single best piece of advice about the movie. We were trying to make a generational movie, and he suggested that in order to make something universally resonant, you need to make it specific and personal. It’s counterintuitive, but he was right. We’re both really pretty square, which is why we think this is such an uncomfortably funny area. If we were orgy guys, this would have been a hyper-realistic drama,” says Gregory.
With a new, clear direction of the plot, it was time to revisit the issue of the lead role. They did not have anyone specific in mind until Pete Huyck saw Jason Sudeikis sing karaoke at an SNL after party. At the time, Sudeikis was only writing for the show so the idea that he could play the character of Eric involved a big leap of faith.
“Pete has an amazing knack for spotting talent and just from that one night, he was convinced Jason was going to be a movie star.” tells Gregory. Luckily Gregory had tremendous faith in Huyck and upon seeing Jason Sudeikis appear on “30 Rock” for the first time, he knew the gamble would pay off.
As Huyck recalls, “Alex was watching with his wife, who after seeing Jason deliver his first line, said, „that guy’s a leading man.‟ So, we definitely had a bad case of Sudeikisitis for a while. Then, when we were interviewing casting directors and Susie Farris’ first choice for Eric was Sudeikis, so we hired her.”
With Sudeikis in place and with all characters based on either Gregory, Huyck or actual friends of theirs, they were fortunate that the ensemble cast wound up being the perfect group of young, up and coming actors to portray a group of real friends, something that was very important to the writers. “Pete is Eric, with a dash of McCrudden and both Sudeikis and Tyler Labine borrowed most of their wardrobe from Pete.” tells Gregory. “Alex is Adam, with a bit of Glenn, and as much as he’s reluctant to admit, Marcus.” says Huyck.
“The fact that all the actresses are so ridiculously attractive was an accident. We fully intended to cast people who looked like what Hollywood types call ‘real people,’ as if actors are robots manufactured in Taiwanese factories, but the people who gave the best auditions and fit the roles the best were cast. That’s it. They just happened to be really hot. Sorry, real people. Maybe next time,” jokes Huyck. Since so much of their personalities were already being portrayed in the film, it was only fitting that Gregory and Huyck made a cameo as well. If you look closely, you can see Alex as a pizza delivery man with Pete posing as one of Kelly‟s dates.
Production took place in Wilmington, North Carolina and was completed in an ambitious 30 days. The choice was made to film in Wilmington since it‟s equipped with the largest studio infrastructure on the east coast. Additionally, homes there have the same distinct architecture as homes found in the Hamptons of New York which made it ideal for filming.
Initially, there was a concern over how the locals would react to the subject matter of the film but the cast and crew quickly learned the meaning of southern hospitality by the reception they received from the residents of Wilmington. “The North Carolina crew were all amazing, skilled veterans, but with a surplus of energy and enthusiasm. And the people of Wilmington totally embraced us and our insane project. It is no small testament to the skill and ingenuity of the people of North Carolina that they are able to put vinegar in BBQ and make it delicious.” laughs Gregory.
Not one set or stage was built for the film so it was shot entirely on location. Filming took place in actual businesses and using locations in and around Wilmington. The city embraced and supported the film every step of the way from permitting to local resident participation as background extras. One business in particular, Fred‟s Beds, agreed to help out ONLY if the actual business name was used in the scene, which was particular racy and involved Eric and McCrudden going to a sex club to do research for the orgy. “Yes, we had to use the name of Fred‟s beds per their request and all locals served as extras in the sex scene. The people couldn‟t have been sweeter. We got the support of every location and homeowners and spread the word throughout the colleges and downtown Wilmington when we were looking for extras. One night, we shot a party scene overnight and they were troopers and stayed for 10 hours. Everyone was really excited to dress up for the “White Trash Bash,” recalls producer Brian Etting.
Filming in North Carolina also greatly assisted with the cultivation of real friendships among the cast members as the actors each lived in small apartments next door to each other in downtown Wilmington. While on location, everyone tried to have some fun in town. At one point, Leslie Bibb, whose aunt who lives there, threw a party for the cast and producers at her Aunt‟s residence to celebrate with her fellow cast members. During his down time, Will Forte would hang out at a coffee shop and broke the record for the highest score on the shops Donkey Kong machine while Jason Sudeikis spent his spare time doing karaoke almost every other night.
“Being away from LA, the cast had no choice but to spend lots of time together, and they bonded in a way that you can feel on screen. By the time we were filming, they weren’t portraying a group of friends, they were a group of friends.” explains Huyck. Each night before they had to film their scenes, the cast would rehearse together and see if they could improvise and play with the script. This process helped production move along quickly and efficiently because by the time each actor arrived on set to do their scene, they were prepared and really sharp. “They were all so committed to making the best possible movie.” tells Etting.
When it came down to how and when the orgy scene was going to be filmed, the filmmakers decided on quite an unorthodox strategy. With most productions, the choice is made to film sex scenes early on. The rationale behind this is to capture the scene when the relationships are still new and prior to any possible build up of tension or passion that might not make the scene play out right.
However, in “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy,” they took the opposite approach and filmed the orgy scene on the last few days of production. While risky, this gamble paid off since the friendships formed during the course of filming, not only among the cast with but the directors as well, helped to make what was sure to be a highly awkward work environment a lot less tense. Always the support system, both Alex and Pete, along with some members of the crew, helped to put the actors more at ease by shooting the scene in their boxers!
When asked to describe filming the pivotal orgy sequence, Alex Gregory says it was “In a word, uncomfortable. Actors like to say that filming sex scenes isn’t sexy, but that’s not entirely true. They’re kind of sexy, but they are also really, really, really weird. We did our best to relax people, and we will neither confirm nor deny the outlandish rumors that alcoholic beverages were consumed on set. There were also moments when we had to step up and demonstrate our solidarity with the cast, like when they insisted we get our asses ferociously paddled by Lake Bell to experience what we were asking Nick Kroll to endure, take after painful take. Every savage wallop on our butt cheeks was a blow for our art.
We were all so concerned with making our cast comfortable while they were disrobed and filming simulated sex that we both took off our shirts, as did the burly middle-aged cameramen and crew. Alex’s chest was so pasty pale that the gaffers were able to bounce lights off of it. One of our favorite behind-the-scenes facts is that Jason Sudeikis is such an old-school gentleman that he wore basketball shorts – the long, knee-length kind – during every sex scene. Our Director of Photography, John Thomas, hid them beautifully, but trust us, that dude ain’t naked. Not even close.” tells Huyck. The issue of gender did not influence how the scene played out either. The film made sure to convey that all participants in the orgy were on a level playing field.
“A lot of sex-themed comedies play up what we believe is a largely fictitious gender war. We’ve both had lots of close women friends, and we wanted the ladies to be in on the absurdity.” adds Gregory. The actors really committed to their roles and no body doubles were used. All actors did their own “stunts.”
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
Directed by: Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Lindsay Sloane, Don Johnson, Martin Starr, Angela Sarafyan
Screenplay by: Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck
Production Design by: Alan Hook
Cinematography by: John Thomas
Film Editing by: Anita Brandt-Burgoyne, Patrick J. Don Vito
Costume Design by: Leah Katznelson
Set Decoration by: Chuck Potter
Art Direction by: William G. Davis
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release Date: September 2, 2011
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