Five years ago, filmmaker Scott Prendergast and his sister-in-law, Jenny, were flying back from a family vacation when she told him she was not looking forward to Christmas.

Her husband, B.J. Prendergast — today, the commander of the Bend-based 1st Squadron, 82nd Calvary — had recently been deployed to Iraq with the Oregon National Guard. Jenny and their two toddler sons would be alone for the holidays.

Duty called

Scott Prendergast answered, “‘Oh, well, I’ll come to Portland and stay with you for a few weeks.’ I ended up being there, I think, a month and a half,” recalls Prendergast, 38, who grew up in Portland, spent time in New York and has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years.

Between that flight, and the ensuing “terrible” visit, Prendergast had his next film, or at least an idea for one.

Five years later, “Kabluey,” Prendergast’s feature-length comedy, is complete. Loosely based on that trip, it stars Prendergast, Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”), Chris Parnell (“30 Rock”) and Terri Garr (“Tootsie”), among other fairly big names.

“Kabluey” began showing at movie houses around the country this summer and will screen Tuesday as part of the Indie Reels film series at the Tower Theatre in Bend (see “If you go”).

Ticket holders can attend a pre-screening party at the Tower, and Prendergast will be on hand for a question-and-answer session after the 86-minute film.

The original idea, as Prendergast conceived it on that flight, involved a put-upon guy in a corporate mascot costume, the kind you see at street corners waving hello to passers-by and goodbye to his dignity.

“At the time, it was just going to be about a mascot costume. I was writing down all these ideas about a blue mascot costume.”

It wasn’t until his prolonged visit with his brother’s family that the concept really came together.

“It needed more plot; it needed something else,” Prendergast explains. “Also, I was living with my sister-in-law, so I was like, ‘Maybe the guy in the movie should be going through what I’m going through right now. Maybe he should be living with his sister-in-law. And maybe her husband’s at war.’”

Originally, that aspect was going to be a small percentage of the story, but “the more I wrote it, the better it got,” Prendergast said.

Art reflects life

In the movie, Kudrow plays a mother of two young boys. Her husband has shipped off to Iraq. Her brother-in-law comes to help her and his nephews for several weeks.

Seeing any parallels yet?

What’s more, Prendergast, who wrote and directed the film, plays prodigal Uncle Salman.

But there are many differences between the film and real life events, he says, including a fictional plot point that might reflect poorly on his sister-in-law were it true.

Said plot point — it’d be a spoiler to give it away — is not true, and Prendergast has a deal with his sister-in-law that he’ll stand up at screenings he attends and say as much.

“Basically, the set-up is real,” Prendergast explains of his film. “The father’s at war. He gets extended. The mother’s having a very difficult time. The kids are acting out. The uncle comes to stay. The uncle’s not very good with kids, or at least not very good with these kids.”

His nephews “were terrible. They were terrible,” Prendergast says, sounding like he’s still recovering even as he laughs. “It feels funny to say that, because I’m very, very close with my nephews, and they’re actually great little kids.

“But I think during that time, it was very difficult because their father had disappeared mysteriously, they didn’t know what was going on, and their mother was very worried and depressed. Everyone in the family was nervous, you know, all the grandparents were terrified.

“And then this weirdo — me — arrived. I was the father figure, and it just didn’t go over very well.”

He had more trouble with the older of his two nephews, who was 3. “He just hated me,” Prendergast said. “He would try to get me to play some game with him, and then would scream that I was playing the game wrong. And then would go to his mother and be like, ‘Scotty’s not playing the game right!’

“It was like being at war. I was at war with a 3-year-old.”

Black sheep

Prendergast says, though he and B.J. have no other siblings, the two were not very close during their childhood.

“I hesitate to say that, but it’s true. We weren’t close growing up,” Prendergast said. Like his nephews, Prendergast and his brother are 18 months apart in age. “It took us awhile to become friends.

“He was an athlete. He could take things apart and fix them. He was very physical,” Prendergast said. “I think I was more cerebral. I was a writer and an actor and wanted to do plays in high school.”

Before “Kabluey,” he had written for MTV’s “Celebrity Deathmatch” and had written, directed and starred in a few short films.

When his feature-length debut started to seem a reality, Prendergast stuck to his guns when it came time to cast it, despite a production company that would have preferred a known actor in the role of the uncle.

“When I went to make a feature, I thought, ‘I have to do that now, too. That’s what’s worked for me; I should do it again.’”

The production company would allow him to star, but would do so under two conditions: He’d have to make it for $500,000, and he had to find a “really big star” to play the sister-in-law.

When Kudrow told Prendergast she would be that person, “It was one of the highlights of my life,” he said.

At first, it was “totally bizarre” co-starring with and directing Kudrow, Garr and the rest of the cast. “After a certain point, there’s only so long you can freak out,” he said. “At first, I was like, ‘I can’t believe it! Oh my God! Lisa Kudrow and Terri Garr!”

But he soon got over it. “They put me at ease very quickly. Lisa, specifically, was very friendly and went out of her way to be like, ‘You’re really good. You’re doing a great job. You’re playing this just the way I thought you would.’”

When he showed the completed film to his sister-in-law — who along with brother B.J. will be in attendance Tuesday at the Tower — “she thought it was funny,” said Prendergast.

“But I think the first time she saw it, it was a little bit overwhelming. It was based on her situation, and I was playing me, and Lisa Kudrow was playing her. It was kind of surreal.”

B.J. thought the film was funny, Prendergast says. But on the whole, the family was a bit confused.

“I think the first time my family saw it, they were all sort of overwhelmed, like, ‘How did this happen? This is a family story, and that’s you in it, and you’re up there with these celebrities. How did you do this?’”

If you go

What: “Kabluey”

When: Tuesday 7 p.m. screening; 6 p.m. pre-screening party

Where: Tower Theatre, 835 N.W. Wall St., Bend

Cost: $10 for adults, $7 for students with ID

Contact: 541-317-0700 or www .towertheatre.org