On Thursday, Sept. 17, Milwaukeeans will be the first to see, "3 daYs,"  a short film written and co-directed by Chef Gil Petrovic of Engine Company No. 3.

The 10-minute film, which tackles the story of what happens when Jesus returns to the Earth after forgetting his keys, depicts a scenerio in which "debauchery and happenstance conspire to manifest an accidental hero trapped in a history doomed to repeat itself."

The film is a collaboration between Petrovic and local film industry professional Chris Marks, with assistance from Lance Miller, Charlie Williams, Mike Krieger, Ryan Brooks, Nick Eason, Carlo Besasie, Miles O’Neil, James Magee, Ryan Brooks, Jacob Fatke and Kim Goodwin.

Petrovic and Miller met while they attended UW-Milwaukee. Over the years, they played music together and remained friends, even after parting ways to pursue their respective careers as in the worlds of culinary and film.

Petrovic says he’s always been into writing, but had no idea that what he came up with would translate to film until recently.

"A while back, I had an idea about a story I wanted to write," he says. "And I told Chris [Marks] that I thought it would be cool to make it into a movie."

Marks was intrigued by the idea, although he projected that the cost for the film would be prohibitive, unless Petrovic could come up with an idea that could be distilled into a film that was about ten minutes long.

"The idea was intriguing," says Petrovic. "So went back to the drawing board."

Months later, he came back to Marks with a couple of new short stories, one of which the friends decided would make a great film.

"The story came to me as I was sitting at the Polish Falcon one night," Petrovic recalls. "And they have this whole rack of keys on one of the walls. I presumed that they were all car keys that people had left there. And it really bothered me… I knew there was a story there. So, I sat down and wrote it."

Meanwhile, Marks rallied together with friends from the industry to form a crew to produce the film. During filming, Petrovic plays the role of Peter, while Milwaukee writer Jeff Kerr tackles the part of Jesus.

"It was a really a crazy experience," says Petrovic of the filmmaking process "But, it turned out to be really fun. The whole time we were doing it, it felt so natural, and I was like ‘Wow, I should’ve gotten into doing this sooner.’"

Petrovic says he’s looking forward to seeing the film "on the big screen," later this week. He’s also looking forward to his next project: a film he hopes will be accepted into the Inwood Film Festival in New York.  

The film, entitled "Seven Past Two," is a collaboration between Petrovic, fellow service industry professional Jennifer Grundy of Wolf Peach and friend Johnny Zito in which Petrovic plays a gangster who runs a potato chip racket in northern Manhattan. His name? Gilly Potato Chips.

"3 daYs" will preview at the Fox Bay Cinema, 334 E. Silver Spring Dr., on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m., alongside the film "Fixing Puppies" made by Miles O’Neil, owner of Wicked Hop.  The screening for both films is free and open to the public. The film is not suitable for children.