OZARKS
MSU grad student says college experience inspired comedic film
Chris MeglioSpringfield News-Leader
July 10, 2026, 4:03 a.m. CT
When Tristan Upp starts the process of writing a film script, he always starts with the moral of the story, typically one based on his own life experiences
“I feel like that’s the core of a movie, and everything else is just built around that,” said Upp, a screenwriting student in Missouri State University’s Masters of Fine Arts program and aspiring movie director
Upp looked to the experiences he and his fiancée, Megan, have had in college as one of the manya comedy piece about a college couple heading into their final year of college who get framed for a string of party-throwing mysteries around town and are forced to hire a private investigator named Mr. Mystery
Having finished the script days ago, he and his team are preparing to start filming by the start of August
“I kind of learned this important life lesson last summer, that it’s good to have a plan, it’s good to be prepared, but it’s important to also just enjoy life and appreciate the people around you,” Upp said. “And I think that’s the main inspiration for this film is to just kind of put that message into a story that resonates with people.”
Upp’s film crew consists of students with whom he has previously created projects, and that starts with Molly Crawford, a fellow MSU filmmaking student. The pair worked on a short film together called “Shot Day,” which was the only film Upp worked on that he didn’t write
The short film was originally a comedic project Crawford wrote for class that turned into an independent study for class credit. Upp presented the idea of producing it along with his team, and Crawford ran with the opportunity
Crawford feels her project was a precursor to “Mr. Mystery.” Now she gets to work where her passion lies, in the behind-the-scenes operations
“I think it was really cool how the ideas that he had [varied] from the scripts that I had written,” Crawford said. “Just like some things were different than I had imagined, but I really loved the direction that it took. So it was cool to see somebody’s perspective on it that was different than mine.”
Actors, all of whom are also Missouri State students who earn class credit through their roles in movies, were either hand-picked by Upp and Crawford or earned their roles through a casting call. Since most of the actors are out of town for the summer, each participant was sent a small part of the script and did their audition over Zoom
Those who were chosen will return to Springfield in early August. Upp hopes to get the portion of the film to be shot on the Missouri State campus done before classes resume Aug. 17
“It definitely won’t be the first week when all the students are back,” Upp said. “But as far as logistically how we’re going to do it, we’re going to just allow whatever’s in the background to be in the background, and just kind of make it seem intentional because we can’t close down campus.”
To get the funds necessary to make the film, the “Mr. Mystery” crew created a GoFundMe for people to donate money in support. In other efforts, Crawford has reached out to local restaurants exploring a potential partnership
Local restaurant Big Whiskey’s, located at 1550 E. Battlefield Road, agreed to give a portion of their earnings from dine-in, to-go, and alcohol sales from 6-8 p.m. July 22 to the film crew. Crawford said they’re in the process of negotiating similar fundraising events with other businesses
Being a film buff and Kickapoo High School graduate, Upp knows all about alumnus and film star Brad Pitt. To work with him in the future would be a dream come true, he said, but so would etching his name in that upper echelon of success stories to come out of Springfield
No dream is too big in Upp’s mind
“I’ve always said I would love to be the second biggest person to graduate from Kickapoo because the first is probably taken,” he said. “But you never know, maybe I’ll surpass him one day.”
