SALT LAKE CITY — This year’s Sundance Film Festival includes the works of a number of Utah filmmakers. Two of them, Trent Harris and Brad Besser, created "The Beaver Trilogy, Part IV."

In 1979, Trent Harris, a news photographer in Salt Lake City, encountered Richard Lavon Griffiths, a young man who called himself "Groovin’ Gary."

"I had never met anyone like that in my life, he was so much fun immediately," said Harris. "He was so excited that it made me excited. There was a naivety about it, but it was so engaging and so wonderful that I just immediately liked him so much. Just the idea of going to Beaver, Utah, to film a talent show where he’s going to come out dressed as Olivia Newton John? I mean, how could I not do that?"

Evolution of 'The Beaver Kid'

Harris made the encounter into the documentary "The Beaver Kid" in 1979 and said people laughed. "But often I felt that they were laughing at [Groovin' Gary], and I sensed a deeper pathos in the character that I really liked and I wanted people to understand him more," he said.

Harris decided to redo the film in 1981 and, instead of a documentary, make it a feature film. He called actor Sean Penn, who agreed to play the main character.

"I made him audition. I made Sean Penn audition! He came down and said, 'I don’t want to audition, what I’m doing to do is pretend like I’m your cousin from Idaho and I’ll spend the day with you. So, he spent the day basically in character with me. And it was quite funny because years later people would come up to me and say, 'Boy, your cousin from Idaho has really become a big star!’ ”

But, Harris noted, Penn’s performance is dark — a wonderful performance, but dark — and it did not have a happy ending. So, that’s where the third film comes in. In 1985, Harris cast Crispin Glover, who he said brought a different feel to the role.

"He came much closer to having the naïve, wonderful engagement that the original Beaver Kid did. But if you put the three of them together, it kind of fills in all the blanks. I’m glad Sean did what he did, I’m glad Crispin did what he did," Harris said.

Hence, the creation of "The Beaver Trilogy."

The popularity of the film has never stopped — Harris has recently traveled to Switzerland, Holland, England, Australia and both New York and Los Angeles for screenings, shown in 12 different retrospectives along with his other films.

Student becomes filmmaker

Salt Lake native Brad Besser remembers watching Trent Harris films and quoting lines to his parents when he was in the eighth grade. He considered Harris an idol, a mythical figure.

"Because he was a guy from Salt Lake City who did it in Hollywood," Besser said. "As a kid, that’s really inspirational. If he can do it, maybe I can do it too."

"Still, I think I carry that — Trent’s a bit of a mythical figure even today, even after getting to know him," he said.

Besser believes Harris has never gotten the credit he deserves for his body of work, so "Beaver Trilogy, Part IV" is his tribute.

Their relationship began when Besser took a class from Harris at the Utah Film and Video Center. He remembers a rather awkward after-class question of how to become a director.

"All you need to do to become a director is go get a camera and make a movie," Besser said. "So, about a decade later I decided to make a movie about Trent."

Harris said Besser wasn’t the first young person to want to make a documentary about him, but this one was different.

"He comes into my office and films, and then he comes back, and then he comes back; and then I’m in Cambodia and he’s in Cambodia; and then I’m in London and he shows up; and then I’m in New York and he shows up, and he was driving me crazy," Harris said. "I thought it was a terrible idea, quite frankly, to make a movie about me — I’m still not sure it’s a good idea.

"When I finally saw a cut of what he had done, I was so surprised," Harris said "He actually managed to make a movie about me and reveal stuff that I didn’t know.

"What he did was go back and do some investigating — he went back to Beaver and talked to people I’d never met," Harris said, adding that he can’t imagine a friend of his that Besser didn’t talk to.

"So, it was a surprise to me, a much better film than I thought it would be. It’s actually pretty good," Harris said, as he and Besser both laughed.

"That’s the greatest compliment I’ll ever get," Besser added.

Sundance showings

Besser said having this new film in Utah at the Sundance Film Festival is so appropriate because as Harris was creating his three originals works, the festival came to Robert Redford and evolved into what it is today.

"This was the dream even before I knew what kind of films Sundance was playing," said Besser, who has been a volunteer at the festival for the past decade.

As for Harris, the festival doesn't have the same appeal.

"The festival’s wonderful, but for me to go up there, it’s not something I enjoy doing," Harris said. "I’d much rather be in my office working. It’s not that Sundance isn’t great — I’m not."

Harris said the film "The Beaver Trilogy, Part IV" is a Sundance entry because of Besser’s vision and hard work.

Besser pointed to a scene in the movie as his inspiration.

"There is something that’s really amazing about the Beaver Kid in the parking lot. That interaction is so amazing that it lived on," he said. "You can see his enthusiasm for wanting to be on TV. We all kind of have that childhood dream of 'I want to make movies, I want to be in front of the screen.' There was something so innocent about all of that that you can’t help but wonder what happened to the kid."

This is not "The Beaver Trilogy’s" first time at Sundance. In 2000, Harris attended a screening, having left a phone message for Groovin’ Gary. They had lost contact for 20 years. The star of the film never picked up his tickets at the Eccles Theatre, but as people came onstage to talk with Harris, a man approached the group.

"All of the sudden he comes up and he says, 'You probably don’t remember me' and I just started to hyperventilate," Harris said. He pulled Richard Griffiths outside for a private talk but the audience followed them, talking pictures and asking for Groovin’ Gary’s autograph.

"For a moment there, he was the star," Harris said. "We ended up going to the Sundance party and he was the star of the room. There were movie stars all over the place that nobody cared about. They were coming up to the Beaver Kid. He had a beer in one hand, wearing his trucker hat, and he was surrounded by these beautiful women. It was a moment that I’ll never forget, I know. He seemed happy."

A Hollywood following

This is one of those stories, Harris said, that never goes away.

"Remaking the movies, and then people starting to show the movies and people interviewing me about it: It has been a constant thread for that long. Even today, here we are still," he said.

Besser was in Los Angeles two years ago when he heard that Hollywood actors were holding watch parties for the Beaver films.

"I got word that Paul Rudd had a whole bunch of friends over to watch ‘The Beaver Trilogy.’ ”

Harris also got a request for the movie from British actress Tilda Swinton.

"'I heard you made this movie. Would you send it to me, I’m in London. How much is it?' (Swinton said.) I said, '$25.' She sent me cash, $30, and said, 'Keep the change and buy me a drink.’ ”

A worldwide following has grown for a film that started with a brief meeting in a parking lot. Griffiths, who performed as Groovin' Gary, died in 2009 following a massive heart attack.

His parents have since passed away as well, but Besser and Harris expect his sisters to attend the premiere Friday, Jan. 23, at the Tower Theatre to celebrate the memory of their dear brother who loved Beaver, Utah, TV, films and Olivia Newton John.

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