Swingers

 "Swingers" (1996) is loosely based on the experiences writer Jon Favreau had when he first moved to Los Angeles. He had just broken up with a long term girlfriend and counted on his friends Vince Vaughn and Ron Livingston to cheer him up. The characters they play in the film are based on themselves. The "Bear" monologue that Vaughn's character delivers to Favreau's character is almost verbatim something Vince told Jon one night at a bar. Favreau liked it a lot and incorporated it into the script.

The crew shot at the Derby nightclub with actual customers as unpaid extras. It was awkward for Favreau, who admitted that he had probably (unsuccessfully) hit on some of the women who were being filmed. He also had to tell a man who sat down next to Heather Graham to leave so that the Mike/Lorraine "meet cute" scene could be shot.

Favreau learned how to swing dance for the movie. For a month, he and Graham rehearsed at her house, and at the Derby. According to Graham in an interview, he already knew how to swing dance and taught her at a dance club they went to. She remembered she would get all sweaty and one night he drove her home in his convertible. She ended up getting really sick from the wind blowing on her.