From the Stevens Point Journal April 15, 2004:

Trivia spawns documentary

By Jill Steinke
Journal staff


With about $25,000, eight cameras, a few producers and several volunteers, Trivia weekend will be immortalized.

Executive producer and cinematographer Patrick Cady, 35, of Los Angeles and New York will be in Stevens Point filming teams and events for the documentary "Trivia USA."

"As soon as I showed them the fund-raiser tape, (volunteers) got really excited about coming out and making a documentary," Cady said. "The contest is creating the documentary out of its own energy."

Cady, who has worked on projects such as the show "Cold Case" and the award-winning film "Girl Fight," heard about Trivia from his wife, Jill (Shuderak) Cady, who grew up in Plover.

It took awhile for his wife to explain how it works and all of the little intricacies involved, Cady said. Making a documentary is the quickest way, he said, to explain the event to the rest of the country.

"My hope is that when this film is done and made, that it draws more interest to the contest," he said.

Rebecca Ritchie, a 28-year-old producer for VH1, will be heading the production of the documentary. She was immediately hooked by the subject when Cady approached her.

"It is such a naturally unique event," she said. "I knew it would be a compelling documentary because there are such wonderful characters involved. The only thing you have to do is get people out there for the weekend."

Trivial Pictures, the production company Cady and Ritchie opened solely to shoot the film and insure volunteers, hired six University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students as interns to help producers during the weekend. The interns will drive film crews around, log information and offer local insight on the contest.

Tony Vogelslang, a 21-year-old communication major, is excited for the opportunity to learn more about the profession. He would like to do production and editing work.

"I kind of hope to get my foot in the door and meet some of the people doing what I want to do," he said.

Lisa Cisewski, a senior communication major, is excited to make connections while interning with the production crew.

"I'm just really thrilled to do this," she said. "It is great to be able to do this and be involved. People dream of this."

While Cady is the executive director of this project, he wants people involved to feel like there are many directors. There will be four film crews with two cameras each filming different teams, the radio station and other situations during the weekend, so each crew is their own producer, Cady said.

"My idea was to have many directors," he said. "Then it's more fun."

Each crew will narrow down their footage before forwarding it to Cady and the producer for the final edit. Because so many people are donating their time on the project, Cady said it was important for them to feel their creative input is appreciated and necessary.

Cady has been researching Trivia for five years, and Ritchie has been learning more about the teams involved and the city of Stevens Point.

Film crews are recording 14 teams throughout the weekend, as well as a 30-minute interview with team leaders.

"The rest is just about exposure," Ritchie said. "There are plenty of good stories."

Ritchie hopes to have a rough cut of the movie in about six weeks, but the completion is a long way off. She would like to have a special screening in Stevens Point when the documentary is finished.


Steinke can be reached at 715-344-6100, ext. 2508, or at jsteinke@cwnews.net.