w w w qw mr lqw 1 TeMc i.gan . dedy, b 00 THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK with JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN new rules A look at the big news events this week and how important they really are. Conveniently rated from one to 10. 7AoABOUT CAMPUS ' I*LLUSTATIONS BY JOHN OQUIST Magazine Editor: Jessica Vosgerchian Editor in Chief: Gary Graca Managing Editor: Courtney Ratkowiak Photo Editor: Sam Wolson The Junk Drawer: Brian Tengel Center spread design: Lan Truong Cover photo: Max Collins The Statement is The Michigan Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the academic year. rule 206: If you just have a cough, you definitely don't have H1N1. But you do have an excuse to miss class. rule 207: It's OK to pretend not to know someone you haven't talk- ed to in more than a semester. rule 208: Print double-sided until your pro- fessor liter- ally threatens to lower your grade if you do it again. - E-mail rule submissions to TheStatement@umich.edu 4 FROM HIGH COURT TO BIG HOUSE Chief Justice John Roberts attended Saturday's game against Notre Dame in Michigan Stadium as part of his visit marking the 150th anniversary of Michigan Law School. From the presi- dent's box, Roberts witnessed the neck-in-neckgame that ulti- matelyended in Michigan'sfavor, 38-34.taut the Indiana native didn't revel in the win with the rest of the stadium. Rumor has it he has motioned for a recount to decide the game. We should know theaofficial score sometime in January. WHAT WOULD YOUR MAMA SAY, KANYE? Kanye West once again made a fool of himself at the Video Music Awards when he stole the mic from Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift to proclaim that the award should have gone to Beyonce. Jay Leno admonished West during his new show: "What would your late mother say about your behav- ior?" West pouted and looked remorseful, then got up and performed his hit with Jay-Z and Rihanna. Considering the pun- ishment for celebrity misbehavior is increased attention, Mrs. West probably would have told her son to keep at it. No one wins the fame game by being boring. Not-so-trivial pursuits Behind students' grunt work on the "Trivial Pursuit" set At Ingalls Mall on the night of Sept. 4, actor Chris Gorham was portraying fictional University stu- dent Paul Tarson in "Trivial Pur- suits", a film that recently wrapped up shooting in Ann Arbor. Having just returned from losing abar triv- ia tournament, he drunkenly blun- dered through Roxette's "Joyride," barely balancing on the edge of the fountain. "Hello, you fool!" he bel- lowed, slapping his team T-shirt. into the water. "I love you!" Tarson, a college bar trivia mas- ter, is a figure easily recognizable on a college campus. He seems to know everything except how to approach his looming and uncer- tain future. He also has a lot in common with the few dozen Uni- versity students who watched from the sidelines of the Ingalls Mall set. They were Screen Arts and Cultures majors, movie buffs who seem to know everything about film except how to get a job mak- ing it. That's where the Michigan Film Initiative makes things a tad easier. The students on the set of "Trivial Pursuits" weren't just looking in longingly - they were earning a highly needed line for their resu- mes as production assistants: Many students are no strang- ers to entry-level grunt work, but film students without connections really might have to endure the most grueling and mundane jobs in all of interned servitude. And that's only if they're able to land an internship. But a film like "Trivial Pursuits" - an independent, feature-length comedy starring Chris Parnell ("Saturday Night Live") - offers a valuable opportunity to actually help produce a feature film instead of just file paperwork related to one. "When I go over there, it's like going to a Screen Arts class, because it's all of our students," said Mary Lou Chlipala, the pro- gram coordinator for the Screen Arts and Cultures Department. Of course, that experience came at a price for the 30 or so University students who worked as produc- tion assistants: long work weeks, difficult requests and little to no pay. Chlipala said that the film's producer, Anna Wenger, asked her early in production to refer four film students to work as pro- duction assistants on the shoot. But soon after, Wenger decided to meet with 40 students in two days, about 24 of whom ended up on the "Trivial Pursuits" payroll or receiving grant money from the University to work. And when paid positions filled up, more students volunteered to work unpaid as pro- duction assistants. "We ended up with kids that were like, 'We want to work for free!"' Wenger said. LSA senior Samara Rosenbaum was happy to find some worth- while production work on the set of "Trivial Pursuits", even though she wasn't being paid. Her prospects in Los Angeles were anything but promising. "I was determined to find an internship there," she said. "I tried everything I could to stay in L.A. and I found this mediocre intern- ship." But instead of making photo- copies at a documentary company, Rosenbaum grudgingly came back to spend the summer in Michigan. Soon after returning to Ann Arbor, she heard about "Trivial Pursuits" and started volunteer- ing six days a week as the assistant extras coordinator. "We're not just getting coffee," she said. "We're doing things that we can learn from and actually R .. LLr J f f! ff Y: .. , ... " .. , t K \4 L ^ \ {.\ ', .. ,.;Y . ... . . . . ... .. _ _ _ .y, .,. } ' .. r w \ ,. """' '.,v.4.. .,va. .. e~q~atts fj\4e, / ,( CALLING ALL HOME BREW ERS The Michigan Daily is looking to name the best student- made beer in Ann Arbor. The contest will take place at the end of October, so get a batch fermenting. All types of beer welcome - no mead, moonshine or hard cider. E-mail vosgerchian@michigandaily.com to inquire about >entering. Include your name, year in school, type of beer and when you next expect to have a batch ready. contribute a lot to the film." Katie Magill, a paid production assistant and University alum, said she has been working 80-hour weeks filing paperwork, escorting actors to and from set and insuring equipment since the end of June. The opportunity to do more on a film than the average entry-level production assistant also means being obligated to put in long hours - and being expected to accom- plish any number of oddball tasks necessary to keep production run- ning smoothly. Wenger introduced me to a pro- duction assistant so versatile and indomitable that she gave her a nickname to match: Megan "The Rock" Gilliam, a 2009 graduate who received University money to work on "Trivial Pursuits" Gilliam has not only worked on set, she has had to make sure that the set would exist at all - like when she was put in charge of find- ing trailers for the cast and crew. "I was not expecting to come in and have to find six motor homes," Gilliam said. "They were like, 'Hey, Megan, you're in transportation, so you're gonna go find the motor homes"' Visibly tired but still attentive, Gilliam was stationed Sept. 4 next to the Law Quad overseeing the base camp: a line of parked motor homes for actors, trailers filled with huge monitors and equipment for editors, and a tented table filled with all the catered food necessary to keep cast and crew happy for a 14-hour workday. "How to get coffee," she said, gesturing to extension cords and a generator set up on the lawn. "You wouldn't believe how something that simple can turn into a major issue." Fellow intern and LSA senior Liam White made $100 for a 100- hour week where he was respon- ILLUSTRATION BY LAURA GARAVOGLIA sible for keeping passersby out of the camera's eye. His voice could be heard above all others as he told the crew to secure the set before the camera started rolling: "Lock it down! Lock it down!" "It steered me toward the idea of being a director or writer," he said. "I realized how stressful some of the other parts can be. I learned about getting shit done. It gave me a real-world expectation of what kind of hours I'll be working." White and his coworkers worked from sundown on Sept. 4 until 6 a.m. the next day. But such long hours foster camaraderie, and as any intern knows, making good connections in the field is almost more important than the real- world work experience. "Since I met all these people through it, there's a lot more peo- ple that I can call when I get out to L.A.," White said. -SARA LYNNE THELEN WHAT'S YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT? Email vosgerchian@michigandaily.com to learn how to submit an essay.