Filmmakers put finger on city's pulse

The sun is shining bright in downtown Renton. Bob and Sam, native Rentonians, stand up to their knees in water in the town-square fountain, a nearby camera rolling.

"Can you imagine living in a town with no piazza?" Sam asks.

"No, I couldn't imagine that."

"Renton's ahead of the curve when it comes to piazzas."

Both stare blankly over downtown Renton — and it's a take.

Two requirements down, one to go as Sam Graydon (director, co-writer, actor), Chris "Bob" Anderson (co-writer, actor), Seth Wessel-Estes (cameraman) and Ryan Soper (sound guy) work on an irreverent homage to their hometown for Renton's first film contest, the FilmFrenzy.

Contestants started 5 p.m. Friday, after they received an e-mail revealing the three elements all must incorporate into their short movies. Each must have a scene in Renton's newish square, called the "Piazza." Each must include a statue or other piece of public art. And someone must utter Renton's marketing slogan, "Ahead of the Curve." The films also had to be shot entirely in Renton, be no more than four minutes long and be turned in by tonight.

The competition is the brainchild of the Renton Community Marketing Campaign, made up of city government, businesses, schools and Valley Medical Center. That consortium has produced marketing videos about Renton but also has aired TV ads during the Superbowl pregame and dreamed up the "Ahead of the Curve" slogan — referring to the famous (or infamous) S curves on Interstate 5 as it cuts through Renton.

The group established the film competition to nurture Renton's low-key art scene, and hopes the FilmFrenzy will grow into a film festival.

This first year, the contest attracted 15 teams — 10 student groups and five in the adult "open" category. The teams were all over downtown Renton Saturday, making impromptu sets out of city landmarks such as Why Too convenience mart and St. Charles Place Antiques.

About 1 p.m., three crews jockeyed for space on the Piazza. One was shooting a comedy starring a loaf of bread. Two high-school girls ran through the square for another.

Anderson and Graydon, playing themselves in jeans and days-old beards, took the plunge — literally — into the fountain, where they uttered the "Ahead of the Curve" line.

Their film, called "Finger of God," is about living and dying — and never leaving — Renton.

Now in their 30s, they have been best friends since they attended Renton's McKnight Middle School, where everyone started calling Bob "Bob" although his real first name is Chris. They've both left Renton more than once but always ended up back in town.

Graydon just finished a film program at Seattle Central Community College. Anderson is attending an audio-engineering program at Shoreline Community College. Anderson said he last returned to Renton because of family and friends and because Renton's "comfortable."

As they film, someone honks hello. Who was it?

"No idea," he says. "That's Renton."

Their film probably won't be the Chamber of Commerce's next promotional video. Graydon and Anderson say a lot of cheery things about Renton, but with thick irony.

Near the end of the film, for example, they're in a bar, and one of them belts out Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" while no one listens.

They know their film might not please Renton boosters, but they figured they'd stay true to the story they wanted to tell.

They were born in Renton. They love Renton — but can also laugh at it. And they don't know quite why, but friends who leave always seem to return.

"There is a saying," says Soper. "Once in Renton, always in Renton."

That's the real theme of the film. Renton as vortex. Renton, as Graydon puts it, as a "black hole."

The element they knew had to be in the film? A short soliloquy delivered late at a party one night by a town character, who was often drunk and often blurted out something heartfelt and funny to everyone but him.

In the film, Graydon delivers the words that guy said that night — words that have become part of Graydon and Anderson's Renton lore.

"We're blessed to live in this town," he says. "I like to call it the finger of God.

"Every morning God wakes up and puts his finger right here on Renton and gives the world a good spin. You know what I'm sayin'?

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com