Unbillievable The Movie is touted as “…the most Buffalo-centric film since Buffalo 66.” Greg
The film is directed by J. Garrett Vorreuter and Scott Rubin (who edited National Lampoon for 10 years), written by Rubin, and produced by Rubin, Vorreuter, and Gregory Lamberson.
Not only have all of these film buffs returned to Buffalo from cities such as NYC and LA over the years, they have all become stalwart players in the regional cinematic landscape. And now they’re all working together, which, according to Lamberson, is a feat in itself.
“We’ve been in planning stages for this film, and now we’re starting to build the momentum,” said Lamberson. “About ten years ago, Scott was going to do something about the curse of the Bills. He and Garrett came to me about four months ago with this new project, which is the most Buffalo-centric film since Buffalo 66. The film nails everything about Buffalo – the type of film that someone will say, ‘Yup, that’s me!’ or ‘I know that person!’ Other than co-producing the film, my job is to keep Scott and Garrett on planet earth, so that they don’t feed each other’s delusions. This is going to be a lot of fun because all of the perspectives are there… all of the characters (the fans) that we all know so well.”
Lamberson told me that he’s the outlier of the group, as he’s actually not a fan of football in general, “Since football games ruined my Christmases when I was a kid [laughing].”
The most Buffalo-centric film since Buffalo 66.
Gregory Lamberson
As for the film, it encompasses the lives of three generations of Buffalo Bills’ families, all under one roof during the course of a Super Bowl Sunday. Rubin plays the main character. As for the other family members and friends, we can all imagine that they are bits and pieces of each and every one of us.
“Making movies is an incredibly difficult endeavor no matter what the scale or budget is, and of course making them independently, outside the studio system is as difficult as it gets – especially as it relates to distribution, marketing and sales,” said Vorreuter. “As an independent filmmaker, when my old film partner (Rubin) came to me with an idea to make a film about a family of 3 generations of diehard Buffalo Bills fans, coming together to watch their team compete in the Super Bowl… What could go wrong? Everything! Anyways, I knew I had to do it. You see, the goal with filmmaking is to make work that connects and resonates with its audience – and, well, its pretty easy to see all the love, passion and devotion of the Buffalo Bills fanbase here locally and afar. It makes sense with the incredible highs and lows that go along with following the team and being a fan, from the 4 Super Bowl loses, to the 17 yearlong drought, to the Music City Miracle and last season’s 13 seconds loss… and that’s not even discussing this season! But it all makes sense. Drama makes for great stories and interesting characters. Although this film is a comedy, there’s drama in life and in this movie as well, so it’s an exciting film for me to make as a director and I believe in it. It’ll connect with audiences regardless of their fanship or where they’re from. At the end of the day the film’s about family drama and the comedy that comes out of it when everyone’s together.”
“It’s also part of living in a small city, where the enthusiasm is all-consuming,” Lamberson shared. “Even when I was living in New York City, there was no hiding from the Bills. Now I’m co-producing a film about the Bills [laughing]. It’s a film that everyone will want to celebrate.”
Whether we choose to celebrate or not, one things is for certain – each of us will be able to identify with a character… or even all of the characters, depending on the extent of our Bills’ fever (and/or lunacy).
Stay tuned for a social media ramp-up, and crowdfunding campaign to be launched in the near future. And then get ready to laugh, scream, curse, jump up and down, shout, and all the rest.
Be sure to follow Unbillievable The Movie on Facebook for breaking (table) news.
Scott Rubin leads a troop of fervent Bills fans (including James Golonka) up a snow pile. Moments later Rubin would actually fall down the hill and break his ankle. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. This is what Billieving is all about…
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