Graham Gordy

Graham Gordy understands his role within Hollywood's hierarchy.

So the Conway native wasn't put off when during a recent press junket in Los Angeles, he was asked the same question over and over again: "What was it like to work with Mike?"

That would be Mike Myers, the former Saturday Night Live comedian who has met success with movie franchises such as Wayne's World and Austin Powers. He and 32-year-old Gordy co-wrote and co-produced The Love Guru, a comedy scheduled to hit big screens across the nation this weekend.

But screenwriters don't often get a lot of recognition.

"Hollywood is all about the star, and people aren't interested in the blood, sweat and tears of the other people and, frankly, I'm not sure they should be," Gordy said.

Gordy's story has a familiar, albeit more successful, ring to it. After graduating from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and completing a master's program in screenwriting at New York University, he found work as an assistant screenwriter in New York. Practically penniless and living in one of the worst parts of Brooklyn, he co-wrote a screenplay that eventually found its way into Myers' hands.

His interest piqued, Myers attended a play Gordy had written and was starring in.

"When we finally met we just really hit it off," Gordy said. "We shared a lot of the same ideas about screenwriting and comedy, and so he asked me to start writing with him. He said, 'I have this character that I want to write a screenplay about and I don't really know what it is yet, but I want you to be a part of it.' That turned out to be The Love Guru."

The two started brainstorming, coming up with jokes and developing the main character, an American named Pitka who was raised in India by gurus and takes on the challenge of settling the romantic troubles of a star hockey player.

"He had this impression of Deepak Chopra, who is a friend of his, and I would constantly have him do it, because it was hilarious. It was also a great template for something that was kind of high-brow and spiritual, but that you could immediately undercut with toilet humor and fart jokes," Gordy recalled.

That stands in contrast to War Eagle, Arkansas, a film Gordy wrote and screened at the Little Rock Film Festival in May. The coming-of-age story focuses on two teenage boys growing up in rural northwest Arkansas. One has a speech impediment while the other has cerebral palsy. The two navigate their way into adulthood side by side.

Theba Lolley, who served as associate producer on War Eagle, Arkansas, said the two films show what an "intelligent writer" Graham is.

"I think it's been very positive for the state that he's been so successful with something like The Love Guru, which is a huge, commercial venture, and then something like War Eagle, which is a much more intimate film about Arkansas," she said. "I think that other Arkansas-based writers have someone that they can look at as an example of a really talented writer."

Still, Gordy admits that at first he was intimidated by the idea of working with Myers. However, he said, that feeling dissipated after he made the boss laugh a few times and he developed more confidence in his own comedic instincts.

"Any time you meet somebody that you've seen on TV or film it's a little strange because you feel like you've shared a little part of your life with these people, but they haven't shared any of theirs with you. So it's a strange situation where you feel like you know them, but they have no idea who you are," he said. "After awhile though, I got to a place where I was completely at-ease and comfortable, and then it was just like being in a room with people you know, and not Mike Myers."

Making a comedy isn't all laughs, though. The Love Guru took almost five years to produce. After writing some initial material, Gordy and Myers tested the character in a series of small theater shows in New York. Afterward, the writers had plenty of jokes and began the process of putting them together around a story. Gordy said he's proud of the way it turned out.

"Well, Five Easy Pieces it ain't," he said. "I'm really happy with the results, though. I mean, when I was in college I wanted to write those great dramas, but from an earlier age I wanted to write Blazing Saddles and The Blues Brothers because I watched them on Saturdays with my dad."

Now that War Eagle, Arkansas and The Love Guru are finished, Gordy has returned to Arkansas. He lives in Ponca with his wife and newborn daughter. He said there is a possibility that he and Myers will team up again, but in the meantime he is working on some "pet projects."

"I'm anxious to get out on my own and try some things that are more personal to me," he said. "Maybe it's just in my head, but I feel like I'm a better writer here."

United Artists Breckenridge Stadium 12 in west Little Rock will host a preview of The Love Guru at 7 p.m. today. Lilly's Dim Sum, Then Some will host an after-party featuring a Q&A with Gordy. After-party tickets, available at www.littlerockfilmfestival.org, are $25.