Former Lawrence resident Eric Frodsham has written and directed Hall

Eric Frodsham has indulged in many professional pursuits.

He’s been a minor league baseball pitcher, a lead singer of a rock band and is currently back in college studying to be a physicist.

That’s not stopping him from indulging in his newest occupation: filmmaker.

“We had a huge learning curve on our first film,” Frodsham says.

But that learning curve – coupled with three years’ effort and a $20,000 budget – helped Frodsham craft “Hall Pass.” The 90-minute feature will have its Lawrence premiere tonight at Liberty Hall. (Watch the trailer on myspace.)

The filmmaker decided to tackle a project that would delve into the foster care system on the surface but thematically attempt to deal with everyday questions of victimization and moral choices.

“It’s the story about a young foster girl named Sara who comes to a small town in Iowa,” Frodsham explains. “Her foster parents are hyper-religious. Sara has not exactly come from a good place, and that interaction does not work out in her favor.

“The other thing that happens is she encounters a man named Friday Baker at school. Basically what Friday does is he targets kids that are from the wrong side of the tracks and befriends them. On the one hand, he befriends them and is helpful. On the other hand, he could be construed as a sexual predator.”

The 30-year-old says he hopes the movie doesn’t moralize, instead presenting an open-to-interpretation story.

“I let people make their own judgments. Depending on who the viewer is, they’re going to think differently about the film,” he says.

Lawrence bands support

Frodsham currently resides in Austin, Texas, but prior to that he spent several years living in Lawrence. He was known to many by his nickname “Slick” when playing with Sweet Band O’ Mine, an all-star Guns N’ Roses tribute act.

That connection served him well on “Hall Pass.” While the majority of the picture is set in Iowa, the opening scenes were shot in Lawrence.

“But where Lawrence really comes into play is the music,” he says. “I did all the post-production in Lawrence. We used Arthur Dodge, and Brandon Aikin, who was in Panel Donor. We also had Brian Egan, who did the classical score for us.”

(Dodge and Split Lip Rayfield mandolinist Wayne Gottstein will perform live at 9 p.m. before the screening.)

A native of the Wichita area, Frodsham grew up with the guys in the eminent pop-rock trio Ultimate Fakebook.

Both drummer Eric Melin and bassist Nick Colby (currently of Lawrence band Dead Girls Ruin Everything) take roles in “Hall Pass.”

“I was playing a cop, so I got to go dress up with one of the other actors and walk up and down the hall looking intimidating,” says Colby of his acting debut.

“I actually think I was pretty bad at playing a cop. I just looked the part.”

Colby, who like Melin played with Frodsham in Sweet Band O’ Mine, remembers the director as always making home videos and “crazy little films” when they were growing up.

“This time it kind of felt like that but with a higher budget,” Colby says.

Colby admits working with Frodsham as a filmmaker was completely different than when rehearsing while the singer was donning the stage persona of stadium rock cretin Axl Rose.

“When he was directing, he was really concentrating and trying to do something good. With Sweet Band O’ Mine, it was just having fun and going crazy,” Colby says.

Lips service

The cast of “Hall Pass” was composed of both amateurs and some professional actors, none of whom have recognizable marquee names.

Frodsham says, “The Ultimate Fakebook boys represented all the celebrity status. The only other ‘famous’ one was the principal (Eric Forsythe), whose father was the actor who played the KFC colonel.”

Frodsham did recruit one additional heavy hitter to be involved with “Hall Pass.” Lawrence journeyman drummer and original Sweet Band O’ Mine member Kliph Scurlock has been operating behind the kit for The Flaming Lips for the last five years. Because of this relationship, the director convinced the Lips to provide four songs to his soundtrack.

“‘Hall Pass’ is a feature film. It’s really good for what we had to work with. But in all honesty, these Flaming Lips songs are a little out of place because they’re just so good,” Frodsham admits.

“I’m sure (recording) one of their songs on one of their albums cost as much as my whole film.”