Trophy Kids is a 2011 film directed by Josh Sugarman, produced by Brandon Yankowitz, and written by the pair. Trophy Kids stars Ryan Eggold

Ryan Eggold

Ryan James Eggold is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Ryan Matthews on the CW television series 90210.-Personal life:...

, David Gallagher

David Gallagher

David Lee Gallagher is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor and model at the age of two, Gallagher is a five-time Young Artist Award nominee and Teen Choice Award winner, best known for his role as Simon Camden on the long running television series 7th Heaven, as well as...

, Tahyna Tozzi

Tahyna Tozzi

Tahyna Valentina Tozzi is an Australian model, singer and actress, perhaps best known for her role as Perri on Australian television series Blue Water High on free to air channel ABC.- Early life :...

, Nathan Lee Graham

Nathan Lee Graham

Nathan Lee Graham is an American cabaret artist, stage, television and film actor, singer, writer and director. His roles in feature film include Todd in Zoolander, Frederick Montana in Sweet Home Alabama and Geoff in Hitch. He has appeared in independent films like Confessions of an Action Star,...

, Tibor Feldman

Tibor Feldman

Tibor Feldman is an American actor, having played roles in movies, television shows, television commercials, and stage plays...

, Tania Raymonde

Tania Raymonde

Tania Raymonde is an American actress. Raymonde's first prominent casting role was the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders in TV series Malcolm in the Middle between 2000–2003, followed by a popular role as Alex Rousseau in ABC's Lost from 2006 to 2010.She can currently be seen as UTF officer...

, David Thornton

David Thornton (actor)

David Thornton is an American actor. He is the husband of Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper, whom he married in 1991. Their son, Declyn Wallace Thornton Lauper, was born on November 19, 1997.- Filmography :...

, Chris Beetem

Chris Beetem

Chris Beetem is an American television and film actor.-Filmography:* One Tree Hill — Ethan Copeland* One Life to Live — Tate Harmon...

, Adam Grupper, Eleanor Reissa, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. is an American actor.He is most famous for his role on the HBO television series, The Wire as corrupt state senator Clay Davis. He also is notable for appearing in Spike Lee films She Hate Me and 25th Hour as Agent Amos Flood...

.

The film's title refers to the generation of Americans

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 also known as "Millennials

Generation Y

Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation , Generation Next, Net Generation, or Echo Boomers, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, and commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere...

" who grew up receiving trophies and other praise just for participating and not necessarily for excelling. They were rewarded to avoid damaging their self-esteem. As a result, trophy kids feel confident and accomplished, but the coddling has led them to feel entitled and to have great and often unrealistic expectations about their jobs and life in general.

Plot

To win the celebrity and self-made wealth he craves, an aimless, twenty-something Manhattan playboy devises a film based on his party-boy, club-going lifestyle, and hires a self-destructive aspiring playwright to ghost the feature script. As the mismatched pair struggles to complete the script and get a handle on their misdirected lives, they reveal the sometimes comedic, sometimes tragic behaviors of 'Generation Y'- a generation taught to believe each was incomparably special and messianically gifted. Though they begin to vie for the affections of the same girl, and their chance at success and happiness threatens to crumble, they ultimately each find their own, unique life truths.

Production

Trophy Kids was filmed in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and wrapped principal photography in early July 2009.