The film stars Nick Offerman, filming on Lake Belle in Santa Rosa

Residents of Santa Rosa’s Bennett Valley neighborhood were surprised last weekend to see a moving production vehicle the size of a truck emblazoned with the Hollywood studio logo, along with a group of people carrying camera equipment and microphones, outside a home on Creekside Road.

Their curiosity increased when several of them stopped by the house to see what was happening, and were turned away by people wearing official-looking orange jackets.

Undeterred, they went to the neighborhood’s Facebook group page to see if anyone there might know what was happening.

They soon learn that the house is being used to film a feature film written and directed by Santa Rosa resident Miles Levin.

According to a now-deleted post on the Bennett Valley Strong Facebook page, a neighbor who lives near the home shared a photo of a notice they received about the shooting.

“We are filming an independent film written and directed by Santa Rosa local Miles Levine to help the good cause of ending the stigma of epilepsy,” the notice read. “We’ll be filming in your beautiful neighborhood…you may notice extra activity around that house during that time.”

Valerie Henry, who lives across the street, has a clear view of what’s going on at home.

“The most exciting day was the day they were filming outside,” she said. “I was trying to guess who was doing what. Like the person with a script in their hand, that might be an actor. It’s fun to see and people watch.”

A Bennett Valley resident posted that a film crew was also at a home on Hoyne Street east of Summerfield Road last week.

According to a fundraising website, the film is inspired by Levine’s award-winning 2020 short film, “In the Spotlight.”

The film is about an epileptic boy who goes to his dance recital knowing that the lights around the dance floor could cause him to have an epileptic seizure.

Levine, a 2013 Sonoma Academy graduate, launched a fundraising campaign toward his goal of creating a feature film, raising more than $200,000 by the end of January.

According to the site, actors Lake Bell, Nick Offerman, Pierce Guza, Mark Duplass, and Hollywood newcomer Tanzin Crawford, the Australian actress who recently starred in Hulu’s “Tiny Beautiful Things,” are all participating in the project.

On April 4, Bell posted on her official Instagram account a photo of herself standing in front of a production truck in Santa Rosa. She explained that she was “filming an independent film.”

In a 2022 interview with The Press Democrat, Levine, who was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was a preschooler, said some people discouraged him from making a film about epilepsy, saying it wasn’t “sexy” or “universal.”

But Levine, who is enrolled in Santa Rosa Junior College’s digital filmmaking program, disagreed.

He said the film would embody “a wealth of things that everyone felt.” Everyone knows what it feels like to feel doubt. Everyone felt lonely. Everyone felt ashamed. “Everyone has watched someone else do the thing you want to do, and watched them take it for granted,” he said in 2022.

On the film’s fundraising website, “In the Spotlight” is described as “the largest campaign against epilepsy stigma in history.” It is “a family film with universal themes that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt alone or misunderstood.”

According to the notice distributed to residents of Creekside Road, filming is expected to continue until April 17.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JenInOz.