Omaha movie calls up new incentive push

Tomorrow will mark the end of filming for “The Summer Before,” a feature-length independent film about Omaha call centers that is all Nebraska — the production company, the locations, the music and the actors.

But one of the actors — State Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln — plans to carry the work experience into the Nebraska Legislature next year when he proposes incentives for movie makers.

The cast and crew of “The Summer Before” have been working 14- to 20-hour days since Aug. 1 to finish shooting by the end of the month. In addition to a lower-level office space in west Omaha, scenes also were shot at Omaha’s Zesto shop and Millard North High School.

Local actors Todd Zimbleman, Matt Dillon, Anne Pokorny and Jimmy Hill play the starring roles in the film based largely on director Bobby Kokrda's own six years’ experience working phones in technical support.

“It’s a coming-of-age story based on the Omaha call center culture,” Kokrda said. “This movie is sort of about what if you work at one of these call centers and you get stuck.”

Omaha native and Millard North graduate Kokrda formed his production company, No Excuses Films, with a handful of friends in 2006. After going through the video program at Metropolitan Community College’s Elkhorn Valley Campus, Kokrda wrote “The Summer Before.”

He and the rest of the No Excuses Films staff have been planning and saving for years to reach a $25,000-30,000 budget for their first feature film.

Several members of the cast and crew also are drawing on their own telecommunication experiences. With call centers dotting Omaha and the surrounding areas, thousands of locals can relate to the repetition and cubicle confinement of a common part-time or summer job.

“Detroit has the auto industry and New Orleans has the fishing industry,” Kokrda said. “Omaha literally has the call industry.”

Coash wants to amp up the film industry in Nebraska. He aims to pass film incentive bills to attract producers and directors to the state for long-term film projects, longer than the brief cameos sometimes shot here, such as a scene in Memorial Stadium in 2007’s “Yes Man.”

The more extended projects would create a new crop of job opportunities for locals, whether on screen or for catering, maintenance and other positions, Coash said.

Although tax credits have been an unpopular option given state budget concerns, Coash is continuing to look into alternatives.

“We’re looking at options that include economic development funds, a pilot project to track how much we spend,” Coash said. "I think that promoting the film industry in our state is an opportunity that we have to be ready to take advantage of. Growing our economy has to be just as important as controlling our spending.”

Coash, who studied theater as an undergrad at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, also had roles in Blood Rites, shot in Lincoln, and Trunk’d, shot in Wahoo, earlier this year.

“The Summer Before” provided work for 18 local actors and several crew members.

The actors agreed the state’s film industry is bigger than many realize, but said independent productions often don’t have the budgets to pay. Still, Coash said, if those smaller works can attract attention, they could lure bigger projects.

No Excuses Films plans to finish post-production by the end of this year and premiere “The Summer Before” in Omaha in early 2011.

Coash said the movie will resonate with anyone who has worked.

“A job is a job, a boss is a boss,” he said. “Any industry has jerky bosses.”

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