Hooptown goes Hollywood: Luke Hristou to premier revamped ‘Real Rat’ pilot at Garland Theater Thursday

“Spokane. Basketball. That’s all you have to say.”

After nearly three years of rewrites, crowdfunding campaigns, sunrise shoots and endless nights spent editing alone behind a computer screen, Luke Hristou is finally ready to show Spokane what “Real Rat” was always supposed to become.

Hristou will premiere the newest pilot episode of “Real Rat” at Garland Theater on Thursday, marking the latest and most ambitious step yet for the Spokane-made basketball dramedy rooted in the city’s “Hooptown USA” identity.

But for Hristou, the project has never simply been about basketball.

It is about the people who build their lives around it.

The lunch-break hoopers rushing to get runs in before returning to work. The aging gym rats still limping into pickup games years after their competitive primes. The youth basketball parents emotionally invested in every possession. The coaches who somehow know half the city. The people who organize their schedules, friendships and identities around time spent inside a gym.

For Hristou, those people are real gym rats.

“Anyone that loves a sport or craft – that could be anything,” Hristou said on what a ‘Real Rat’ is. “People that are like, ‘I live for this thing. Maybe I don’t get to do this all the time, but this is what I live for.’ “

The idea first began taking shape long before Hristou ever moved to Spokane.

The Salt Lake City native first visited Spokane for Hoopfest when he was 8 years old while traveling with the family of longtime friend Houston Stockton. Hristou and Stockton met in kindergarten growing up in Utah, and over time, the annual trips to Spokane became tradition.

Hristou described Hoopfest as “hoops Christmas in June,” a yearly pilgrimage that introduced him to a basketball culture unlike anything he had experienced before.

The packed outdoor courts. The nonstop pickup runs. The obsession surrounding Gonzaga basketball. The way entire downtown city blocks shut down every summer for Hoopfest. The sense that basketball stretched beyond organized competition and into the identity of the city itself.

Eventually, Hristou decided to move to Spokane himself around the time he began to seriously pursue filmmaking.

During his time attending Colorado Film School in 2019 and 2020, Hristou was assigned to develop a web series concept. The assignment eventually became the earliest version of “Real Rat.”

Once the idea centered around basketball, Hristou already knew where he wanted the story to take place.

He eventually left the program, but continued developing the project independently before moving to Spokane and building the series himself.

“The first time I didn’t know what I was doing,” Hristou said. “This time I felt a lot more confident.”

Before “Real Rat,” Hristou had written creatively and explored filmmaking, but he had never attempted anything close to producing a full pilot episode. The original proof of concept required him to simultaneously write, direct, produce and edit the project himself while learning the filmmaking process in real time.

The original “Real Rat” proof of concept premiered in 2023 at the Magic Lantern Theatre. Shot on a self-funded budget of roughly $10,000, the 20-minute pilot centered on “Funky” Frank, an eccentric basketball gym rat portrayed by Hristou.

But as the project evolved, so did the character. In the newest pilot, Hristou’s lead character is now named Dylan Funk – a change inspired by audience reactions to the original proof of concept, where many viewers simply remembered the character as “Funk.”

Hristou also wanted the character to feel more grounded and relatable this time around.

In the original version, Hristou viewed Funky Frank as “a quirky sort of anomaly” – an aging hooper living with his sister and spending most of his time at the gym. But the rewritten pilot introduces Funk as a nine-to-five office worker trying to balance adulthood with his obsession for basketball.

“People I know, people I play with every week, these are guys that have to sneak out of their work, have lunch and come down,” Hristou said. “That was important to me to really capture more of the relatability.”

At the time, simply completing the proof of concept felt like an accomplishment.

Now, Hristou sees it differently.

“We literally got maybe 10% of what I was hoping to because it took all kinds of miracles to even make it in the first place,” Hristou said.

That realization sparked what Hristou now considers the true beginning of “Real Rat.”

The newest pilot significantly expands the world introduced in the original proof of concept. The script grew longer. The cast expanded. The basketball scenes became more authentic. The production scale nearly doubled.

Most importantly, Hristou wanted Spokane to feel more essential to the story.

“One of the main points of feedback we got last time was, ‘I don’t think I quite understand enough why this place is what you’re saying that it is,’ ” Hristou said. “So we just needed to set the scene and set the world straight away.”

The opening minutes of the new pilot now function as an ode to Spokane basketball culture, weaving together references to Gonzaga, Hoopfest and the city’s “Hooptown USA” reputation.

“If you’re someone that lives in Chicago or wherever, you can watch this and within five minutes be like, ‘Yeah, I get it,’ ” Hristou said.

The rewrite process also became far more collaborative, especially with Stockton, who emerged as one of the project’s most important creative voices.

“He’s been involved the whole time,” Hristou said. “We meet every week, and I’d say, ‘Here’s kind of what I have.’ “

Roles expanded during filming as well. Hristou said Stockton and director of photography DaShawn Bedford helped monitor scenes and assist with directing while Hristou balanced acting, directing and producing simultaneously.

The authenticity they chased became one of the defining goals of the new pilot.

Hristou did not want “Real Rat” to resemble a polished Hollywood version of basketball culture. He wanted it to feel like Spokane gyms actually feel.

That meant showing real noon-ball runs. Real pickup personalities. Real basketball movement. Real conversations.

“I always feel like every basketball show I ever watched just misses the little things,” Hristou said.

The basketball scenes themselves became a major emphasis during production. Unlike the original proof of concept, the new pilot features extended pickup sequences filmed at the Warehouse Athletic Facility, where Hristou regularly plays throughout the week.

“This is my religion in some ways,” Hristou said. “This is my sanctuary.”

The Warehouse evolved into something much larger than a filming location.

“It’s really its own character,” Hristou said.

The new pilot revolves heavily around Coach Rivera, portrayed by veteran Spokane actor and mentor Rick Ibarra-Rivera, and the challenge of keeping the Warehouse afloat financially while continuing to serve the community around it. Ibarra-Rivera also helped direct the pilot.

The office subplot emerged after Hristou spent years around Spokane pickup basketball culture, where many players squeeze games into lunch breaks or race to gyms immediately after work.

The newest pilot also broadens the story beyond adult gym rats. Hristou incorporated youth basketball parents, children and family dynamics after spending time around Spokane’s youth basketball scene while working additional jobs during the editing process.

“I coached the freshman basketball B-team at Gonzaga Prep and then I helped on the weekends at the Warehouse,” Hristou said.

Those experiences exposed Hristou to another side of Spokane basketball culture that he believes could become an even larger part of the series moving forward.

“I was just seeing firsthand how passionate the parents are, how mad they get at the refs,” Hristou said. “So when I say there’s all these avenues that we can go, that’s the stuff that feels interesting.”

Moments like that reinforce Hristou’s belief that Spokane basketball offers enough depth and personality to sustain an ongoing television series. Pickup basketball, youth tournaments, gym culture, coaches, parents and lifelong hoopers all exist within the same basketball ecosystem – one Hristou feels needs to be portrayed authentically on screen.

Production on the pilot stretched across eight filming days in September, followed by an additional pickup day later that fall. Many scenes were filmed under intense time pressure at active Spokane locations, including a scene at longtime Gonzaga-area sports bar Jack and Dan’s.

“You’re always under pressure,” Hristou said. “But, it’s always an adventure.”

Hristou estimates the production budget ultimately landed around $17,000 to $18,000 after crowdfunding efforts raised approximately $20,000. Much of the project depended on favors, discounted work and community support.

“Ninety percent of people I know in Spokane are in this in some way,” Hristou said.

Hristou himself said he has not been paid throughout the process.

“It’s been a lot of sacrifice,” Hristou said. “It’s been a lot of putting life things on hold.”

Still, his belief in the project has never faded.

Even after years of rewriting and rebuilding the project, Hristou believes audiences are still searching for stories that feel authentic.

“I’m really happy that I can present this to people and say, ‘Hey guys, this is something I’m really proud of,’ ” Hristou said. “It was really hard to make, but I think people are gonna love it. They’re gonna be entertained and they’re gonna enjoy their night out .”

Now, after years of work, Spokane is finally about to see the fullest version yet of the story Hristou moved here to tell.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets and additional event information are available through Eventbrite.