Trivia for
Roger & Me (1989) More at IMDbPro »

• By 1989, all movie theaters had closed in the city limits of Flint. The premiere was held at Showcase Cinemas, 5205 East Court Street, Burton, MI a small town next to Flint.
  
  
• Partially funded with $50,000 revenue generated by bingo games. Moore sold his house and held two yard sales. Edward Asner was sent a letter requesting support and sent a check. His name appears in the credits.
  
  
• The robot featured in the "My Buddy" segment from Autoworld is located in the Sloan Museum, 1221 E. Kearsley Street, Flint, MI. The Roger and Me premiere banner and original cardboard stand up sign are located just a few feet from the robot but no connection is mentioned.
  
  
• In a radio interview, Michael Moore felt this film was a failure, since it did not stimulate any interest in development or investment to the town of Flint.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Michael Moore] [flint] Most of the film takes place in Flint, Michigan.
  
  
• When Michael Moore decided to start a documentary about Flint, Michigan and General Motors in the mid-1980s, he knew very little about the technical side of filmmaking (camera-work, lighting, etc.). He met a fellow low-budget documentary filmmaker, Kevin Rafferty, who helped him learn this side of the director's job on the project, and served as one of the cinematographers.
  
  
• The unnamed San Francisco left-wing magazine that Moore goes to work for at the beginning of film is Mother Jones. Moore worked for the magazine for three months in 1985 before being fired for putting his friend on the cover. Moore sued the magazine for contract breech, and used the money he won in the settlement to partially fund Roger & Me (1989).
  
  
• This is the only movie where there has been a successful lawsuit against Michael Moore - filed by former friend Larry Stecco who successfully argued that his portrayal in the movie was not an accurate reflection of his character ("False light invasion of privacy" is the legal term) and won. Stecco was interviewed attending a society fund raising ball and was made out to be a high-society rich pig who partied while people where starving outside. He was actually a lawyer who worked pro-bono for the poorer residents of Flint.
  
  
• During the early screenings, an empty seat was reserved for Roger B. Smith. Smith never attended.
  
  

• SPOILER: In the film, it is suggested that the subject of the documentary, Roger B. Smith, was not available for commentary, despite several attempts. Years later, the documentary Manufacturing Dissent (2007) alleges that Michael Moore did speak with Roger B. Smith twice in 1987 (at General Motors' shareholders meeting) and 1988 (at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York), but Michael Moore didn't put that footage in Roger & Me (1989). However, even Roger B. Smith himself said in a 1990 interview with Los Angeles Times that he had never stayed at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Michael Moore himself also denied this allegation to Associated Press: Moore said that he did speak with Roger Smith at the 1987 shareholders' meeting, but that was before he started working on Roger & Me (1989) and the conversation had nothing to do with the film.
  
  

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