THE TRUMP TRIP

‘A story of people ignored until it was too late,’ this 30-minute documentary makes revealing TV

Ian Pierpoint is a British Boy’s Own fan now based in Canada. Under the name 'The Sound', his agency produces media for brands, plus their own personal projects. Among the latter is The Trump Trip, a half-hour documentary spent interviewing Americans who voted for the 45th President of the United States.
“We avoided the idiots, the extremes,” says Ian, “We wanted to show real people with issues and challenges who are looking for something different.”
The film contrasts strikingly to most TV documentaries as a result. Like a Gogglebox of political vox pops, the persons featured – both Trump supporters and neutral observers of the circus around him – seem surprisingly thoughtful, and all-too-human as a result. It’s an eye-opening piece produced in a contemporary style that avoids any tiresome button-pushing, and we urge you to watch it.
“There’s two responses,” Ian expands, “The overwhelming one is the expected one – people were very surprised by the election, and couldn’t understand who the folks in the film were, or why they would vote for Trump. And then they understood, and they felt better about it all. We only got a few people who said I was ‘unpatriotic’ for even having a critical context to the movie. No one has accused us of portraying the Trump voter in an overly positive light.”
There film certainly features one borderline ‘extremist’ in the Trumpian sense – a lady Ian refers to as ‘Trump House Woman’ who has turned her home into a shrine to The Donald, complete with a two-storey standee of the orange motherfucker himself.
“But even she is engaged with the political process and doing something,” says Ian, whereas for decades the average Western voter has been labelled ‘apathetic’ and abstained from voting.
Ian and Sound HQ are following The Trump Trip with The Great American Protest, “a foil to the Trump film profiling all the various movements with grievances.” But what does he predict will happen to Trump himself? “I think he’ll be impeached, and we’ll have President Pence.” But the reasons people voted for Trump will still be there.