Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… Justin Atkinson decided to have some fun with Cottage Grove’s public announcements.
The self-described Star Wars fanatic started making videos, populated with his favorite Star Wars characters. He transformed the normally boring announcements into parodies of Star Wars movies, that are drawing howls of laughter from the public.
“I have dreamed since I was a kid of doing Star Wars videos,” said Atkinson, a producer for the South Washington County Telecommunications Commission.
The idea to jazz up the public announcements came last winter, he said. He worked with “no budget,” he said, to get costumes. He convinced a few co-workers to act in the video.
The result aired in April — as a promotion for a clean-up day on May 4. The title was “May the Fourth Be With You,” a play on the Star Wars farewell, “May the Force be with you.”
In the three-minute video, Parks and Recreation director Zac Dockter plays the legendary villain Darth Vader, and Atkinson supplied Darth Vader’s voice.
Police Chief Pete Koerner is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Chewbacca, the movies’ 9-foot-tall hairball, was played by management assistant Adam Moshier.
The second one — a two-minute video promoting a Sept. 19 open house — is on the city’s website now. “It was a crazy script with a lot of action,” said Atkinson.
That one is much improved, with better special effects by part-time production assistant Janelle Bute.
The plot is better, too, in which Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi compete to use the Force to move dump trucks.
The response, said Atkinson, has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
“People think it’s great that our city is having some fun,” he said.
Like the “Star Wars” movies, Atkinson’s parodies are ripe for sequels.
“I have another idea, even crazier,” said Atkinson. He won’t say when it’s coming out or what it is. “But it involves space ships,” he said.