Producers of a movie wanted to use the Big Red in their work. But last week, University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials said no to using the “N” or any other protected and trademarked images associated with the university or its storied football program.

BY ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS | Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska Southern University.

Ever hear of it?

Probably not — because it doesn’t exist. Nebraska Southern University was dreamed up by Hollywood producers for their film, “The Good Life.”

They wanted to use the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, including Memorial Stadium and other Cornhusker football images in their movie.

They planned to come to Lincoln this month with more than a 100 people, including a celebrity cast that includes Bill Paxton and Harry Dean Stanton, to get Husker-related footage and complete the shooting for their $10 million project. The rest of the movie is being shot in Manitoba.

The weeklong visit could have meant scholarship money for the university, hotel and dining dollars for the city, a chance for locals to appear as extras, and possibly more national exposure for Nebraska, the university and the Cornhuskers.

But last week, UNL officials said no to using the “N” or any other protected and trademarked images associated with the university or its storied football program.

 “One of our jobs is to defend and build the image of the university — and ultimately Nebraska — and it’s appropriate to consider the effect of what appears to be a probable negative portrayal of the institution and the state,” said UNL spokeswoman Meg Lauerman.

She said the script depicts a cold, gray, snowy Nebraska, a land of  “no opportunity.” The characters are troubled, she said, and generally want to leave for greener pastures.

“It is not a positive portrayal of Nebraska. It also depicts our loyal fans in a negative light in many instances in the script. To allow the use of our N marks in the script would irrefutably tie the image of the characters to our fans.”

Producer Patrick Markey, whose credits include “The Joy Luck Club” and “A River Runs Through It,” disagreed. He is co-producing the film with Lance Sloane.

“I certainly don’t think our film will be a negative portrayal of the university or Nebraska,” Markey said in a phone interview.

“Steve Berra, our writer and director, grew up there and is very fond of his hometown (Omaha). We discussed our script at length with the university and they decided to pass, which is disappointing to us but we certainly respect their position.”

Markey said the “iconic stature” of Nebraska football was used as a  device in the script to help define the main character, Jason Prayer.

“It’s an effective metaphor. It doesn’t portray the university in a negative light at all … it’s not a script about football, it’s about a kid living in a town where football is a larger presence.”

The crew is making the necessary script changes to reflect Nebraska Southern University, he said. The producers haven’t yet named the Nebraska Southern football team. But they don’t plan to change the film’s title.

Asked if the university’s decision has anything to do with last year’s Tommy Lee TV project, Lauerman said “absolutely not.”

She noted the university said  “no” to many ideas in the Tommy Lee project that would have characterized the campus unfairly.

“It was a great experience with Tommy Lee,” Lauerman said. “That was really a collaboration between the university and the producers. The producers worked with us in depicting the campus and its faculty and students in a positive way.”

Without UNL’s welcome, the film crew will not come to Nebraska, Markey said.

“We would really love to shoot there. But now that the stadium is not available, we’re not planning to come for the time being.”

Instead, the crew will likely scout football locations in Winnipeg or other Canadian locations.

“They had great tax incentives and we needed snow,” Sloane said.

“The Good Life” follows the story of Jason Prayer, an isolated young man who doesn’t really care for Nebraska football.

A synopsis of the film describes Prayer this way: “If Cornhusker football were a religion, Jason Prayer would be one of Nebraska’s very few apostates.”

 Prayer scrapes by working at a gas station next to Memorial Stadium and at a movie theater. He wants to get out of  Nebraska but is held back by his unemployed mother and his best friend — the theater owner who suffers from Alzheimer’s.

Prayer has other problems. He lost his hair to alopecia. His estranged father, an ex-Lincoln police officer, just died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His troubled sister wants to move in. And a large football  fan is terrorizing the gas station.

But then Prayer meets a troubled but beautiful girl who helps him come to terms with his life.

 Sloane said he approached his employer, Warner Bros., with the script. The studio wanted control over who would be the director, he said, but Sloane thought Berra deserved a shot.

Sloane took the film elsewhere and began raising money in September 2005.

So far, he’s raised $10 million for the project. Sloane said one of the investors is Mike McBride, son of former NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride.

Charlie McBride and Mike McBride could not be reached for comment.

Berra spent his teen years  in Nebraska and much of his time at skate parks in Omaha and Lincoln. He attended Millard North and moved to California when he was 19 to hang out with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Berra, also a top pro skateboarder, eventually worked his way into acting and writing.

“It’s not super-autobiographical,” the 32-year-old Berra said of his script. “I’ve never hung out with an old man in a movie theater.”

Why did he choose Cornhusker football?

“Nebraska is well, pretty much where I learned everything. It’s where I grew up; kissed a girl for the first time. All my close friends still live in Nebraska.”

Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.

‘The Good Life’

What is it? A coming-of-age drama about a Nebraskan named Jason Prayer, who doesn’t fit in a place where football is almost a religion. Prayer is a rebel with personal problems, but with the help of a girl, he makes the best of his life.

Who are the stars? Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Paxton, Chris Klein, Bruce McGill, Deborah Rush, Zooey Deschanel and Mark Webber. Stanton’s credits include “Cool Hand Luke” and Paxton played opposite Helen Hunt in “Twister.” Klein has Nebraska roots and appeared in Alexander Payne’s “Election.”

What’s the budget? $10 million raised independently. One of the investors, the film’s producers say, is Mike McBride, son of former NU defensive coordinator Charlie McBride.

Where are they filming? Winnipeg, Manitoba. The producers wanted to come to Lincoln originally but there was no snow here in late March. They had planned to come to Lincoln this month to shoot Memorial Stadium and other Cornhusker football scenes but UNL officials denied them permission, saying the script puts the university, the state and football fans in a bad light.