A pioneer-themed, family-friendly comedy movie?
Only the original 10 cast members of BYUtv’s beloved sketch comedy show Studio C could imagine such a concept, let alone bring it to life by creating their first feature film, Go West. Now playing in theaters nationwide, the group—who wrote and starred in the film—describes Go West as “Monty Python of the Oregon Trail.”
The story follows two sisters, Aveline and Cora Jenkins, as they travel west from Independence, Missouri, to reunite with family. They encounter several colorful characters along the way, and similar to Monty Python, the actors play multiple characters throughout the movie.
“Each scene is like the sketches we did on Studio C,” Stacey Harkey explains.
In addition to these 10 Utah favorites (Matt Meese, Stacey Harkey, Whitney Meek, Mallory Everton, Jason Gray, Adam Berg, Natalie Madsen, Stephen Meek, James Perry, and Jeremy Warner), Go West brings some major Hollywood star power. It’s hilariously narrated by Sean Astin, best known for his roles as Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mikey in The Goonies, and Daniel E. “Rudy” Ruettiger in Rudy.
A New Frontier
These 10 original Studio C cast members have been on quite a journey together over the past decade.
After starring in the first 9 seasons of Studio C, they left the comfort of the popular show in 2018 to create their own media company, JK! Studios. Here, they’ve continued to create family-friendly content through sketches, sitcoms, web series, and now a full-length movie.
“We wanted to create more content, and making a movie solved that problem,” Harkey explains. “It’s like a new frontier, a new challenge.”
Playing to Their Strengths
The format of Go West plays to the group’s greatest strengths.
“We’ve always been good at writing short scenes,” says Harkey. “So when we wrote the movie, we came up with about 30 pioneer-themed comedy sketches. Then the three ladies—the powerhouses of the team—Mallory, Natalie, and Whitney, took those sketches and wove a story together. They gave it a plot and characters and made it flow.”
A Love Letter to Utah
Why a pioneer theme? A combination of practical and sentimental reasons.
“We’re really good at writing to our budget,” says Harkey. “We know how to make good use of what’s available. Here in Utah, we have a lot of access to historic pioneer homes, monuments, and parks, like This Is the Place Heritage Park, where we filmed a lot of the movie.”
Of course, they also wanted to take advantage of Utah’s beautiful scenery.
“We have this gorgeous frontier, so we’re like, ‘How can we use this?’ And in a way, the movie is like a love letter to Utah,” says Harkey. “It’s the state that’s supported us since we were college kids. We’ve always loved this idea of filming here.”
Fun for the Whole Family
Harkey describes Go West as “the culmination of all of our comedy experience,” and he invites everyone to come watch the movie and forget about the stresses of life for an hour and 20 minutes. “Just come together and have fun,” he says.
But be warned. As the movie poster cautions, “You may die of laughter. Or dysentery.”
Go West is showing in several theaters across Utah and nationwide, including in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia. Find a theater near you.
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