This Divided State
| This Divided State | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Steven Greenstreet |
| Produced by | Phil Gordon Steven Greenstreet Kristi Haycock |
| Starring |
Michael Moore Sean Hannity Kay Anderson |
| Cinematography | Matt Eastin Wes Eldredge Steven Greenstreet Joshua Ligairi |
| Edited by | Steven Greenstreet |
| Distributed by | Disinformation |
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Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$10,000 |
This Divided State is a documentary film by first-time filmmaker Steven Greenstreet that details the conflict that erupted at Utah Valley State College, now called Utah Valley University, when controversial figure Michael Moore was scheduled to come speak on campus shortly before the 2004 presidential election.
In September 2004, UVSC student council leaders, Jim Bassi and Joseph Vogel, invited liberal filmmaker Michael Moore to come speak on campus. The predominantly conservative community of Orem surrounding the school erupted in an uproar. A pandemonium of protests, petitions, and demonstrations escalated into hate mail, threatening phone calls, threatened lawsuits, and countless incendiary editorials.
Attempting to offset the controversy, UVSC invited conservative commentator Sean Hannity, scheduling his appearance a few days prior to Moore’s visit. Hannity waived his normal $100,000 speakers fee, but still demanded that UVSC cover his travel costs, which totaled $49,850, a figure which "generally surprised" UVSC officials when they received the bill. Also featured in the film is prominent voice of the opposition, Kay Anderson, a local real estate mogul who offered UVSC $25,000 to cancel Moore’s appearance, and, when that failed, tried to sue the school for misuse of funds.
Steven Greenstreet embarked on the concept along with his friends, Bryan Young and Elias and Michelle Pate, describing the ensuing commotion as “a huge crush of political debate and an overwhelming sense of activity and electricity.”
The filmmakers captured at least 70 hours of material in the course of three months. Greenstreet eventually maxed out three credit cards, emptied his bank account, and dropped out of Brigham Young University, devoting himself exclusively to this project. In one instance, when the filmmakers could no longer afford the cost of home internet access, they resorted to piggybacking on an unsuspecting neighbor's wireless signal, only accessible at the foot of a family member’s bed.
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