The movie was partially filmed in New Ulm and Beranek always intended to hold a special film screening in his hometown. Now, five years after its first premier, the screening is a reality.

A special free screening of “Max Bishop” will start at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 at The Grand.

“Max Bishop” is a quirky, dark comedy starring Minnesota actors Chris Charais, Iris Seifert and Katie Troske. Charais plays Max Bishop, an unemployed hitman who finds work as a janitor at the local elementary school.

“I had the idea for the film in 2017,” Beranek said. “We all have something we want to be better at and for Max, it’s being a contract killer. It seemed like a funny idea.”

A scene from the movie “Max Bishop,” featuring the leads Chris Charais as Max and Iris Seifert as Lucy. The movie is a dark comedy about an unemployed hitman who finds work as a janitor at an elementary school. Several scenes were filmed in New Ulm. This scene was shot at the historic Lind House in New Ulm.

Once he had the idea for the film, Beranek began seeing the potential for New Ulm to serve as the shooting location.

“There were scenes that we could film in New Ulm that would be relatively easy to do,” he said. “Not that there is anything easy about directing a film.”

Beranek and his film crew began shooting the movie in May 2018 in New Ulm. By the summer they had moved filming to the Twin Cities and in October, finished shooting in Franklin, Minnesota. However, the bulk of the film was in New Ulm.

One of the primary filming locations was Jefferson Elementary. It was the school building that convinced Beranek to film the movie in his hometown.

“Not long after getting the idea for the film I toured Jefferson and the color scheme inspired me,” Beranek said. “The simple purple and white was so clean and I could not think of any other film using those colors as the dominant theme. That sealed the deal for me.”

The poster for the 2019 film “Max Bishop,” which was written and director by New Ulm native Jack Beranek. A special free screening of the film will be held 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 at The Grand. Beranek will be attend the screening for a special Q&A with the audience. --Submitted photo

The crew spent several days filming at Jefferson Elementary. Washington Learning Center also served for some of the school scenes. Other locations New Ulm residents might recognize are the Lind House and the Goosetown neighborhood. The Runnings store in New Ulm also allowed filming for a few scenes.

“A lot of New Ulm people stepped up to help us, letting us film here,” Beranek said. Aside from assisting with filming, Beranek credits New Ulm for shaping the movie’s tone.

“Max Bishop is a comedy and from growing up in New Ulm, there is a lot of humor here,” he said. “It’s a Midwest humor, but specifically I think it is a New Ulm humor.”

For this reason, Beranek always intended to bring the movie to New Ulm for a proper screening to thank the community for their support. Unfortunately, there were setbacks.

“Max Bishop” officially premiered at the Twin Cities Film Fest in Oct. 2019. The film was only the second movie to sell out a theater at the festival. After the premiere, Beranek tried to find a distributor for the movie. Unfortunately, by 2020 the COVID pandemic had pushed the country into a lock down. Theatrical screenings were not an option. “Max Bishop” did get a distribution deal in 2021. The film became available on several streaming services, but COVID restrictions still limited in-person screenings.

“By the time COVID restrictions were lifted, I was working on other projects, but I never forgot about the New Ulm screening,” Beranek said.

Then earlier this year, the New Ulm Film Society reached out to him and asked him to hold a special screening at The Grand and he could not resist the invitation.

“The New Ulm community was so helpful to us,” Beranek said. “This screening is a thank you to the town.”

The special screening of Max Bishop was made possible by a donation from the New Ulm Area Foundation.

Beranek will attend the Oct. 17 screening in person at The Grand and will take questions about making the film before and after the movie.