Nebraska native returns home to shoot film about youthful days in Nebraska City

LINCOLN — A Nebraska native has returned home to film a Nebraska story, in large part because of a new state grant program for filmmaking.

Adam Rehmeier, now a Michigan-based screenwriter and director, has been shooting his coming-of-age comedy, “Snack Shack,” in his hometown of Nebraska City for the past two weeks as part of a six-week shooting schedule.

 The film is based on Rehmeier’s youthful experience running the concession stand at age 14 at the Steinhart Park Pool in the Missouri River community.

‘A real win’

Up to 65 actors and crew members a day have been working on the film. The crew has shot scenes at the Nebraska City pool, its movie theater, the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha and Horseman’s Park in Omaha.

“It’s a real win for Nebraska City. It’s good for the local economy, it’s  good for the local people,” said Rehmeier’s father, retired District Judge Randall Rehmeier.

“I’m glad Adam decided to do it here,” the judge added.

The decision to shoot the film, which has a $4.5 million budget, in Nebraska was aided by a new state filmmaking incentive.

Last year, state lawmakers set aside $1 million in state grants for films and TV productions that feature Nebraska-based stories and locales, employ the services of Nebraska film crew members and have budgets of at least $1 million.

Three films got grants

Snack Shack received a $200,000 grant. A project from Omaha-based producer/director Dana Altman, “Going For Two,” got $400,000. And the planned film “I Am a Man” — about the trial of Ponca Chief Standing Bear that gave legal recognition of Native Americans as “people” — received $400,000.

State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln, who proposed the film incentive legislation, said she is excited to see the funding “put to good use” — supporting the Nebraska film industry and telling Nebraska stories “to the world.”

“This is exactly what I had in mind,” she said.

Production of “I Am a Man” got an additional $5 million allocation of federal funds through an economic recovery bill sponsored by Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne. Filming of that movie is expected to begin this fall.

Jordan Foley, the Los Angeles-based producer of “Snack Shack,” said the movie would have likely been shot elsewhere if not for the state grant, along with $50,000 in funding from the City of Nebraska City.

Rehmeier told the city council last month that film incentives may be better in states like Georgia and Ohio, but Nebraska City is where the film “needs to be to make it special,” according to News Channel Nebraska. 

“These three films will definitely be engaging and entertaining,” said Laurie Richards, director of the Nebraska Film Office. 

Locals cast in parts

Several Nebraska City residents have been enlisted as extras or for bit parts. For instance, the city administrator, Lou Leone, was cast as the city park director, and two Peru State College students got roles as “party girls.”

Leone said his teenage daughter also got some career advice from cast members about working as an art director for a film.

“The town itself has been quite upbeat about it,” he said.

In addition, the filming will result in increased sales and lodging tax revenue, Leone said, and is good publicity for Nebraska City, a river town known for its museums, apple orchards and annual AppleJack Festival. 

Some adjustments have been made in Nebraska City to turn the clock back to 1991, when the Snack Shack was run by the filmmaker and his friend. Clothing and vehicles had to match that period, and some signs in town have been altered to make it seem like it was 30 years ago. A new snack shack was built. And few cell phones existed in 1991.

Father had to sign off

The elder Rehmeier said he had to “sign off” on the proposal to the city by his then 14-year-old son and a buddy to run the concession stand at the Steinhart Park Pool.

“To be honest with you, we thought to some extent it was a joke. But they wanted to make some money,” Rehmeier said.

“Adam has always been kind of a right-brain kind of person — thinking outside the box. He’s creative and artsy,” his father said. “He figured, ‘Why can’t we do this?’ “

He said that he and his wife and other parents assisted in running the concession stand, and the two boys made more money than they could at other jobs, especially in the first of two years.

A prolific writer

The retired judge, who also served on the Nebraska Board of Parole and now does mediation work, said he hasn’t read the script of the movie, thinking his son wants to keep that as a surprise.

The producers of the film are also not talking about who plays the lead characters. That, Foley said, will be released later as part of a publicity campaign.

Adam Rehmeier, who was a prolific writer as a youth, has done well in the movie business. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for two years before transferring to Columbia College in Chicago, which specializes in fine arts and cinematography.

He worked on low-budget, independent films for several years and served as a documentarian for the jam band Phish. He composed the music for a 2011 movie, “The Bunny Game,” and was the cinematographer for “Jonas” in 2013.

He was the writer, editor and director of the 2020 film “Dinner in America,”  which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won several awards at other international film competitions.

“He’s the real deal,” Foley said.

Long hours

Rehmeier is working 12- to- 14-hour days shooting the movie, and his crew was filming Friday in a house next door, according to his father.

But his son was able to visit some on Friday, which was his 46th birthday.

Foley, a Minnesota native, said the film crew has received a lot of “Nebraska nice” while shooting here.

He said that if all goes well, the movie should be ready by next summer, when it will be shown at film festivals in hopes of being picked up, as “Dinner in America” was, for wider distribution.

“We have to wait and see what will happen,” Foley said.