Filmmakers Jeremy Fiest and John Johnson were chased off a rural Kansas farm by a woman who thought they were secretly trying to film her beans.
"She thought we wanted to make farmers look bad," Johnson said.
Instead, the fledgling filmmakers were making a low-budget, feature-length film, titled "Common," that is a dramatic comedy. The finished film, which was screened for the first time earlier this month -- a private showing in Hays -- includes in its credits the name of Salina Mayor Alan Jilka, as an executive producer. Jilka is one of a few local investors who fronted the cost, which turned out to be $15,000.
"Common" represents the culmination of a 20-year dream by the Salina Central High School graduates, who first met as toddlers at a local day care center.
"We've been videotaping and filming stuff since we could walk," said Fiest, 25.
They worked on film projects in both Kansas and Los Angeles, and decided to return to their hometown to make an independent film financed entirely by local investors.
"We wanted to be the kids who came to their hometown to make a movie and have a good, credible project to show at the end," said Johnson, 23.
"Common" revolves around three Midwestern college students, two who are estranged. The third student, recently married, invites the other two to California to have dinner with him and his new wife. The two former buddies decide to take the road trip together in hopes of patching up their differences before they arrive.
Fiest directed and shot the film. Johnson was producer and one of the lead actors. Another friend from Central High, Jordan Grey, 23, Hays, wrote the screenplay and then served as an actor and editor.
The three friends worked on their first professional production in 2004, when they served as production assistants on a low-budget film shot in Lindsborg, "Something's Wrong in Kansas." They became friends with the producer, Jesse Rivard, who invited them to work with him in Los Angeles. They accepted, with Fiest and Grey working on a documentary called "Unknown," and Johnson co-producing a feature about stand-up comics titled "Stand-up."
The three shared a passion to make their own film.
"We wanted to see what we could put together on a low budget," Fiest said. "We designed a film we could shoot documentary-style that felt right being shot on digital video."
Returning to Salina with the screenplay Grey wrote, they found investors, including Jilka, Salina psychiatrist George Jerkovich and his wife, Joan, Martinelli's Italian Restaurant co-owner Tony Dong and Corner Store owner Thao Huynh. All received executive producer credit on the film.
Jilka recalled that Johnson "handed out an impressive document that outlined their plan, so I kind of did it on a whim." He invested $1,000.
Joan Jerkovich, who purchased a digital camera and other equipment for the filmmaking team, said she was impressed by their passion and enthusiasm.
"Any good movie revolves around the story, and after reading the script, it was something I could see people their age enjoying," she said.
About half the movie was shot in the Salina area while Fiest and Johnson worked full-time jobs. Fiest was a parking valet at Salina Regional Health Center, and Johnson a clerk at Corner Store.
Most of the remainder was shot over a 10-day period last August that took the filmmakers from Kentucky to California.
"We took two vehicles -- a jeep and a Ford Taurus station wagon," Fiest said.
Once the shooting was finished, Grey edited the film on a computer, using movie editing software.
"That was the part that took the longest -- editing the film," Fiest said. "You can express your viewpoint, have pretty pictures, but if you have a film you can't sell, it doesn't mean anything."
The first public showing of "Common" was May 4 in Hays before an invited audience of friends, family and investors. The filmmakers said they hope to show the movie in Salina soon. They are shopping the film to festivals, hoping to find a company to distribute it to theaters and on DVD.
"We wanted to make a small, charming film, and it turned out better than we ever thought," Fiest said. "The best thing is that we didn't have to be in L.A. to do it."
For Johnson, completing the film was a validation of their legitimacy as filmmakers and the culmination of a lifelong dream.
"If we made a good, solid film for $15,000, think of what we could do with $2 million," Johnson said. "Maybe next time, we can even pay ourselves."
n Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at sjgdemuth@saljournal.com.
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