University of Alaska Southeast students gather to watch sci-fi film starring campus handyman October 31, 2025 Share: UAS employee Karl Sears in a scene from the 2014 film “Space Trucker Bruce.” (Screenshot) A beloved maintenance employee at the University of Alaska Southeast starred in a low-budget sci-fi comedy a decade ago. This week, some UAS students screened “Space Trucker Bruce” to honor their friendly campus handyman, and to satisfy their own curiosity. It’s about a space trucker hauling hog fat through the galaxy who picks up a hitchhiker whose ship has broken down. Hijinks ensue. The low budget sci-fi comedy just so happens to star UAS handyman Karl Sears. It was made by local filmmaker Anton Doiron. He and Sears are old high school friends who reconnected in adulthood. Years ago, they wanted to make a short film for the JUMP Society festival in Juneau. On a drive one day, they came up with the idea of making a comedy about a space trucker. But the ideas kept coming, and it spiraled into something bigger, said Doiron. “It grew from making a short to making, like, a full-length movie,” he said. Six years later, “Space Trucker Bruce,” starring the two of them, debuted at Juneau’s Gold Town Theater. Sears said it’s neat that the kids wanted to show it and invited them, but he finds their interest a bit odd. “It’s a little strange, and like, ‘what are you guys doing with your lives?’” he said. The film has been out for 11 years now, and it’s available for free on YouTube , so sometimes people stumble upon it. “People talk about it,” Sears said. “And occasionally a student will come up to me and say, ‘I just watched it. It was so funny,’ or ‘it was good,’ you know, or, ‘I watched it,’ and they don’t elaborate.” The 2014 film “Space Trucker Bruce” stars director Anton Doiron and Karl Sears. (Screenshot from film) Sears said the film has been shown before, but this is the first screening he decided to come to. Ella Kelly is a residential advisor at UAS. She organized this screening and, like many students, she considers Sears a friend. “He’s the only maintenance guy for housing,” she said. “So everybody’s had an encounter with Karl, and they’re all like good interactions, because he’s so nice and friendly.” Kelly said she didn’t know about the film until she saw the poster for it outside of Sears’ office “It’s always made me very curious,” she said. “Because I’m a big fan of a low budget film.” About a dozen students came to the screening, and they filled the room with laughter. Doiron said he has a new project coming soon that Kelly may like. It’s called “Girl, Yeti, and a Spaceship,” and there are some thematic similarities to his first film. “There’s a bored state worker,” he explained. “He’s in management, and he’s bored, and he takes his dog out hiking one day, and he sees Bigfoot, and he starts following Bigfoot, and he finds this cave with a big spaceship in it, and the spaceship is broken.” Hijinks ensue. Doiron said the new project comes out next year. Share this story: Sign up for The Signal Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week Email KTOO thanks our sponsors Become a sponsor Close Source: https://www.ktoo.org/2025/10/31/university-of-alaska-southeast-students-gather-to-watch-sci-fi-film-starring-campus-handyman/