It’s not often you hear of a college producing a feature film featuring honest-to-goodness Hollywood actors, but Ball State’s Emerging Media program has netted just that.

“My Name is Jerry” was produced by stars Doug Jones, a Ball State grad whom you might not recognize at first glance, but chances are good you’ve caught his work.

Jones has a long Hollywood resume that contains a laundry list of geek icons: The Silver Surfer in “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer;” Abraham Sapien in the “Hellboy” films; in Guillermo del Toro’s modern classic “Pan’s Labyrinth,” he played two of that film’s creepier roles: the Faun and the Pale Man.

A professional actor for more than 20 years, Jones has also appeared in films like “Batman Returns,” “Three Kings,” “Adaptation.,” scores of TV shows including “CSI,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Tales from the Crypt.”

But this is, as Jones noted, his first title role where he’s not buried under layers of makeup, CGI, or both.

Jones plays Jerry, a door-to-door salesman mired in the morass of life who finds his life revitalized when he meets, literally, some young punk kids.

The film also stars Catherine Hicks (“7th Heaven”), Don Stark (“That 70s Show”), and Allison Scaggliotti (“Drake and Josh”)

Jones noted that though Ball State funded and supported the film, “Jerry” is not a student film.

“It’s very cutting edge. It hasn’t been done before,” he said. A lot of universities have a film program of some sort, and they produce and put out short films. This was a professional production with Hollywood personalities. All the department heads were from the industry."

But that doesn’t mean that students weren’t involved. A lot of the hands-on work was done by students who were receiving college credits or serving as interns, which Jones called the perfect artistic environment.

“As an experience goes, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever worked on,” he said. “They were able to create art more in its pure form. And there’s the educational component, and these young minds working side-by-side with professionals.”

Jerry will have its first public showing May 7 (at 8 p.m.) at the Muncie Convention Center in the form of a test screening/fundraising event. The screening is at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and available at the “Jerry” ticket Web site (http://www.mynameisjerry.com/tic... or the IDEE office at 301 S. Walnut, suite 102.

A VIP reception will also be held before the movie, with tickets costing $35 and will include hors d’oeuvres and refreshments beginning at 6:30 p.m.