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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2005
Local director helms yeti-hunting film
BY NEIL MULKA
nmulka@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Take one Easter bunny costume, add a monkey mask and gloves and attach a furry white rug from Target. You create a yeti, better known as the abominable snowman.
This mythical creature is the focal point of "Yeti! A Tale of the Brothers Krong," a film written and directed by local film maker W. David Keith.
But this yeti has one peculiarity.
"The yeti has an Easter Bunny tail," Keith said. "I wanted a polar bear costume and there wasn't a costume rental place that had one."
"Yetil," which Keith describes as "Ernest" meets "Indiana Jones," is about characters Caspian and Brian Krong, brothers and paranormal investigators, who wield the magical, plastic Blades of Caton.
That's only a minor detail in a film that cost less than $100 to make.
When they discover that a colleague is missing, possibly captured by the yeti, the brothers try to rescue him and hunt for the yeti in Himalayan mountains. Along the way, the duo meets space witches, a monk and a monkey guide.
WHEN & WHERE
"It has your classic story. Two brothers hunting down the yeti and accidentally finding their true identities from a monk in the Himalayas," Aaron Weatherford, who plays Brian Krong, said.
The film also has a strong family message, said Brian Weatherford, who plays Caspian Krong.
"The moral of the story is that brothers should always stick together," Weatherford said. "Bros before hos."
To emulate the Himalayas "Yeti" was filmed at the Overland Park Arboretum, 8909 W 179th St., last February. Other shots were done at the
"Yet! A Tale of the Brothers Krong"
♦ TIME: Meet and greet with the actors and the crew for autographs begins at 6:30 p.m. The film starts at 7 tonight.
PLACE: Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St.
Source: Lickety Split Films
Lawrence Memorial Park Cemetery, 1517 E. 15 St.
All of the movie's dialogue was improvised. Keith set up the scenes, and the actors made up the lines.
"We had the freedom to say whatever we wanted," said Stephanie Suetos, a 1998 graduate who olaved a space witch.
"Yeti!" is just one film created by Keith, a former KU film student, and the Weatherford brothers. Together they are Lickey Split Films, a production company that has made films such as "A Burt Reynolds Christmas," "Earth Lords" and "Robbie the Dancing Vampire."
Kenth receives e-mails from people in San Francisco and Brooklyn, N.Y., commenting on "Earth Lords."
"It pleases me to know people are watching my crappy little films," Keith said.
Members of Student Union Activities made copies of "Earth Lords" and distributed it.
Lickety Split's biggest challenge is finding time to make movies between school, work and church. The group usually films during weekends at the spur of the moment.
"Some people people like to go fishing on the weekend," Keith said. "Some people like to go drinking. We like to run around in monkey suits and film it."
— Edited by Laura Francoviglia
Mike and Aaron Weatherford, Lawrence residents, play Brian and Casplan Krong in "Yeti! A Tale of the Brothers Krong." The low-budget film premieres at 6:30 tonight at Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St.
CAMPUS
Hispanic culture week starts today
This week the Hispanic- American Leadership Organization will present HALO Week.
HALO has organized several events on and off campus that will bring awareness to and celebrate Hispanic culture.
The movie will be at 7 tonight at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union.
The organization will kick off the week by showing "A Day Without a Mexican," a comedy about a day when all of the Hispanic people disappear from California.
HALO will have salsa lessons at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Kansas Room in the Kansas Union. It will also participate in Topeka's Hispanic Day on the Hill.
Estuardo Garcia
STATE
BTK suspect to go to court this week
WICHITA — A man suspected in a string of 10 slayings that terrorized Wichita residents for more than three decades was being held yesterday on $10 million bond and could appear in court as early as today, prosecutors said.
At that appearance, Dennis L. Rader, 59, would stand in front of a judge on video while prosecutors recite yet-to-be filed criminal charges against him.
Police were confident Rader's arrest last week would bring to an end 30 years of fear about the BTK strangler. But as they pored over news of a suspect's capture, many residents here were left with an unsettling feeling — that he had been hidden among them all along.
At his church and around town, many expressed shock that Rader was accused of being the man responsible for at least 10 killings attributed to BTK — a self-coined nickname that stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill."
The Associated Press
TRADITION KEEPERS APPRECIATION DAY
TUESDAY, MARCH I
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If you paid to be a Tradition Keeper and have not picked up your benefits, do so at the Alumni Center.
Spotters will be looking for Tradition Keeper t-shirts around campus on March 1.
Don't forget to pick up your benefits!
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