Student premieres film on campus

When Jimmy Jensen was a freshman at Ferris State he was told to make a decision between two of his passions: making movies and playing hockey. He didn’t choose either but decided to do both regardless.

Now a junior at UW-River Falls, Jensen is preparing to premiere his movie, “Goodbye Guys,” at 9 p.m. April 20 at the Kinni River Theatre in the University Center.

Jensen said the film is based on some real life experiences.

“You look at the characters and one of them is based on me, while I don’t play him,” Jensen said. “It’s about a kid who grew up with the wrong crowd always hanging around them and he moved out of the city and made something of himself ... You probably can’t find a good guy in the movie, but sometimes you have to root for the bad guy.”

While most people interested in filmmaking have had some sort of training or experience, Jensen said he did not.

“It started off I was just good at writing and I taught myself how to do this,” Jensen said. “It was like those people who get a new phone and learn how to use it without using the manual.”

While Jensen directed the film, he acted in it as well. Other members of the cast include members of the hockey team and friends he worked with. The entire movie was filmed in the city of River Falls.

Jensen said he started the project in September while taking a film class.

“I was done filming around Christmas and I made it look like something I could hand in,” he said. “But I couldn’t just be done.”

Now that hockey season and the film class are complete, Jensen said he averages about 40-45 hours a week working on the movie. He spends many hours, including many late nights, in the production room in the Kleinpell Fine Arts building. Junior Wade Harstad is planning on attending Jensen’s premiere mainly because he stars in it and is interested in seeing the final cut.

“I thought it was an interesting experience,” Harstad said. “I I might have a future in the movie business.”

This will be the first time a student- made film will be shown in the theater and Jensen said he is doing his best to promote it. He has made a Facebook event to inform people of and invite them to the premiere. He has also placed table tents in the dining areas and rented a table in the University Center, recruiting his younger brothers to help spread the word.

Over the summer, Jensen said he plans to film his first full-length film. He said he wanted to do it sooner, but wouldn’t do it without his brothers being in it.

The 45-minute film will be free and open to the public.

“I just hope it’s a good turnout,” Jensen said. “I just want people to see it. If things go well, I’ll schedule another showing.”

According to the Facebook event, as of Wednesday, nearly 40 people plan to attend the movie premiere.

Jensen said he has friends coming in from all over to to see his newest film. Besides just having students and friends from River Falls, he also has friends traveling in from his hometown in St. Paul and he even has people coming in from Iowa.

Jensen played junior hockey in Iowa and the family he used to live with is flying up for the movie premiere Friday night.