FILM MAKER USES LOCALS TO TELL "THE TRUTH ABOUT BEEF JERKY"
By Marina Malikoff
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

The hippies have been had. The tie-dye pulled over their bloodshot eyes. They were lured to their bloody deaths with patchouli-scented promises of a Phish concert.  That’s the upshot of a short film written by meat-eating Santa Cruz resident Fritz Junker, who likely is not making any new friends in a town where hippies are considered an endangered species.

"When someone leads a lifestyle I can make a profit from, I’m going to take advantage of that," said the lanky 25-year-old Iowa native.  Junker, a self-described capitalist, hired 40 local "hippie extras" to appear in "The Truth About Beef Jerky," a half-hour film shot in Santa Cruz and Big Basin last month.   He may not have mentioned that, in the film, the happy hippie horde is duped into being hunted for sport by a gang of blood-thirsty rednecks.

In one scene, a hippie traipses down a trail when he happens upon what appears to be a brightly colored bong. As he takes a hit, the hippie soon learns the bong is attached to the end of a 10-gauge shotgun.  In another, stoned hippies caravan to the phony Phish concert in gas-guzzling Suburbans, talk on cell phones and plop down platinum Visa cards to pay for Twinkies and Ho-Hos. A swarm of flies follows them.

"There is a scene for every hypocrisy of the hippie lifestyle I could think of," said Junker, who suspects many of Santa Cruz’s hippies are in reality "trustafarians."

He recruited the hippie extras at the Santa Cruz Farmers Market, in front of New Leaf market on Pacific Avenue, and by driving around town looking for "ridiculous buses." They were paid $75 per day.

"I tried to get them for $50, but they wouldn’t do it," said Junker, shaking his head.

He said he’s not the slightest  bit concerned about how the extras will react.

"If I could get on the hippie hit-list, that would be outstanding," Junker said. "I hope I have to watch my back when I go into New Leaf."