With a stretch of imagination, writer/director Michael Traeger may have found a new way for Producers to finance their projects. Employing a considerable amount of tongue-in-cheek, they will have to scrutinize how Traeger’s main character in The Amateurs convinces a small town to finance an adult movie.

Traeger, finds comedy in incongruity. He divulges, “I wanted to write a sweet movie, and I thought the best way to do it was to make a porno.”

Traeger’s main character, lovable loser, Andy Sargentee (Jeff Bridges, The Fabulous Baker Boys) entices the sleepy hamlet of Butterface Fields to go along with his salacious plan. He persuades his best buds Barney, (Tim Blake Nelson, Syriana), Otis (William Fichtner, The Perfect Storm), Moose (Ted Danson, Cheers, Becker), Emmett (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous) and the dysfunctional duo, Moe and Ron (John Hawkes and Brad Henke respectively), to become producers for the amateur porn.

Sargentee’s desperation when he is humbled by opulent wealth - not his own - struck a resonant chord with the screenwriter. Traeger confesses he has struggled with feelings of inadequacy. He admits, “I started making a living very late in life. I knew what it was like to be poor, but once you hit thirty it’s just horrible.”

Traeger’s screenwriting career stalled when a project could not find funding. He had the opportunity to pitch his porno comedy to producer Aaron Ryder, and it eventually became The Amateurs.

Ryder secured financing from Qwerty Films. Bill Fichtner and Joe Pantoliano quickly joined on. Just like in the movie, the production hit a few bumps -- it stalled for two years. Finally, when it was a sure thing, the original director dropped out. Traeger turned his lemons into lemonade. He convinced producer Michael Kuhn (Being John Malkovich, I Heart Huckabees) that he was the best man for the job. It was his first outing as a director.

Traeger cast his actors against type. Tim Blake Nelson, usually assigned to playing a buffoon, portrays the lovelorn best friend. Danson plays a gay man hiding behind false bravado. Joe (Joey Pants) Pantoliano depicts the sad little man with the unfortunate nickname of "Some Idiot."

“Everyone knew who everybody was,” Ryder reminisces, “but nobody had a close friendship. It was important...that the actors spend time together.” Traeger, prone to off-the-wall ideas much like his hero, gathered the cast together at a beach house for a bonding weekend. He wanted his actors to be friends first.

Ryder recalls that weekend, “Six amazing actors are doing our movie after two years of the whole process of -- are we making a movie or not -- and suddenly it was a tangible thing.”

“As Traeger has always said,” Ryder continues, “we know the end of the story, and it’s just like the end of the script. Everything is going to work out real, real well.”