BY DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN

dvaughan@heraldsun.com; 419-6563

DURHAM -- Upright Citizens Brigade, the improv theater in New York City and Los Angeles, is the proving ground for rising comedy stars, many who end up on "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live."

Filmmaker Brant Sersen mined the UCB for his two feature films, "Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story" and "Splinterheads." Both will be shown on Saturday as part of the film segment of the N.C. Comedy Arts Festival, which ends this weekend.

When writer and director Sersen cast "Blackballed," he went with guys he knew from UCB, like Rob Corddry, Ed Helms and Rob Riggle. When they shot the movie in 2003, Corddry had just gotten his job on "The Daily Show," and none of the cast was the quickly recognizable faces they are now. Helms is on "The Office" and Riggle is also on "The Daily Show." "Blackballed," which came out in 2004, is a mockumentary about Corddry's character, Bobby Dukes, a shamed paintball player who wiped off paint during a battle and is trying, a decade later, to redeem himself.

Sersen got the idea after playing paintball one weekend with his friends and meeting a group of paintball players who were Filipino and called themselves "Asian Knights." They weren't a team, but all wore matching black uniforms just because. It's an eclectic crew of people who play paintball, Sersen said.

Sersen, who lives in New York City, has made documentaries about punk rock and hardcore bands. A skateboarder, he shot his friends' skating videos, then was asked to shoot others, too. He worked at Comedy Central in a non-creative job, but got to watch comedy all day. He also went to film school and has segued from documentary to mockumentary to now a narrative feature film released this past fall, called "Splinterheads."

Sersen turned again to UCB for casting, choosing first-timer Thomas Middleditch after seeing him in an Upright Citizens Brigade showcase. The rest of the cast includes actress Lea Thompson, Dean Winters and Christopher McDonald. Thompson's agent brought her the script, which she liked, and Sersen sold her on the film over bagels on the beach. They filmed over the summer of 2008 on Long Island, and Thompson has a home on nearby Fire Island. Thompson's resume is long, with "Caroline In the City" and "Back to the Future" perhaps her most recognizable roles.

McDonald was the nemesis of Adam Sandler in "Happy Gilmore" and shows up everywhere on television and film. Sersen has been a McDonald fan going back to "Breakin' 2" and said the character actor had the best energy of anyone on set, with his sense of humor, ideas and tons of fun stories. Sersen credits McDonald with helping Middleditch, who was green, to be more comfortable on set.

Middleditch plays a 20-something guy whose "thing is nothing." He mows lawns for his friend Wayne Chung. He meets a woman (Rachael Taylor) who works at the visiting carnival, but is not a carnie. She's a splinterhead -- a carnie who hustles the crowd. She seems exciting and traveled, though most of her time is spent in parking lots. Her boyfriend, played by Winters, is a big jerk. Middleditch's mom is played by Thompson, whose boyfriend is McDonald, a cop.

"Splinterheads" premiered at the South By Southwest festival and has toured the festival circuit. Since it came out on DVD last week, the N.C. Comedy Festival will be the last chance to see it on the big screen.

Skateboarding is still a big part of Sersen's life, and the subject of his next project -- a documentary about the Brooklyn Banks. The waves of bricks under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge that skaters have loved for years are threatened by city plans to use it as a staging ground for construction vehicles.

He'll still continue making comedies, too.

"I feel I have a lot of funny stories to tell," Sersen said.

N.C. Comedy Arts Festival

WHAT: “Splinterheads”

WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Varsity Theatre

123 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill

Tickets: $10

WHAT: “Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story”

WHEN: 11:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Varsity Theatre

123 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill

Tickets: $10