Most college students are relieved to graduate in five years, and a job offer or two is just icing on the proverbial cake of education. For those who choose to shell out more tuition money and further their higher education, finishing research or thesis is cause for a celebration.

But for Dan Mirvish, a film student at the University of Southern California, his thesis project blossomed into more than he had hoped: a full-length film that is opening in select Midwestern theaters today.

Omaha (the movie), written and directed by Mirvish, makes its first appearance ever in Sydney, Neb., and West Des Moines.

The story involves a young man who returns from a trip abroad to confront not just his peculiar family and friends, but also a roving gang of kickboxers from Des Moines and a pair of Colombian jewel thieves who chase him across Nebraska.

Mirvish originally dreamed up the film idea to fulfill his thesis requirement. But he ran into a snag: thesis films become the property of the university once they are finished and turned in. He wanted to hang onto his masterpiece, so he took advantage of a loophole of sorts to make sure his movie remained his movie.

He didn’t use any school facilities or equipment, “not even a pencil sharpener,” but he did hang on to his brainchild with a little help from some major bigwigs.

“But I can still say it’s a student film,” Mirvish explained. “It counts for my thesis, and people are nice to us. Like, Panavision gave us a free camera, and Paramount gave us post-production facilities. Plus, I could apply for federal student loans and invest them in the movie. Thank you, Department of Education!”

The road toward making the movie was harder and bumpier than Highway 30. Mirvish tackled roadblocks concerning the script, filming and the college student’s eternal scourge: finances.

“Originally, I was like, let’s see if I can write a script this long,” Mirvish said. “It came kinda easily because it’s a pretty episodic movie, stuff I’d thought about for a while. And physically, could I make a film in Nebraska? More importantly, it was about raising money.

“I started going around to rich people in Omaha, and some were like, “Go away, kid, don’t bother me.’ But there were a few eccentric rich people who gave me money to do it. We used credit cards as stop-gaps for a while.”

The cast and crew hopped around various Nebraska locales for four weeks, and after editing and post-production, the movie measured 85 minutes in length

“By Hollywood standards, [four weeks of shooting is] short,” Mirvish explained, “but by low-budget, independent film standards, it’s actually on the long side. If you’re paying for cast and equipment, you need to get done as fast as possible. But we had no reason not to spend the amount of time we did.”

While Omaha (the movie) obviously has strong ties to Cornhusker land, Mirvish also holds a fond place in his heart for Cyclone country.

“My Iowa connection is that I used to write speeches for Tom Harkin,” he explained. “I didn’t especially wanna work on the Hill ’cause most of the senators are pretty repulsive. But Harkin was one of the few I could work for. Tom’s a lot more fun [than most].”

In fact, it was during his tenure as Harkin’s speechwriter that Mirvish’s interest in filmmaking sparked. There is a film studio in the basement of the Capitol in which senators and their staff would film short speeches for appearances that the congressperson couldn’t make.

“I can say that Harkin was the first guy I ever directed,” Mirvish laughed. “It was pretty much just talking-head things, not real artistic, but it was enough to keep my interest in film alive.”

Not only did Iowa’s Democratic senator renew his interest in movies, but the whole experience in Washington D.C. taught Mirvish a few things that he used to make Omaha.

“It’s made me not take things too seriously. That kind of attitude has kinda helped us; we’ve said along the way, ‘F—k ’em. Let’s make the movie and do things our own way.'”

Now that the movie is finished and Mirvish and crew have been there, done that, he hopes to release the film to select cities over the course of this fall and next spring.

But starting in the Midwest is way different from how most filmmakers start out. Mirvish is not only keeping the movie close to home, but he’s also keeping finances (there’s that money thing again) in mind.

“You ever see that episode of ‘Seinfeld’ when George does the opposite?” Mirvish said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. Everyone else who does independent films opens in L.A. or N.Y., and then they open in the rest of the country.

“But then you have to spend, like, $45,000 to do sufficient advertising in New York, and you blow all your money and can’t open anywhere else. So we’re doing the opposite. We’re opening in the Midwest and then spreading to the coasts.”

Iowa cities that will most likely catch a glimpse of Mirvish’s finished product are Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Des Moines and Iowa City. Ames is really questionable, so Des Moines may be ISU students’ only chance to see the movie.

Omaha (the movie) is playing at the Carmike Sierra 3 Theatres, located at 1618 22nd St. in West Des Moines. Showtimes are 7:15 and 9:30 p.m.