It was 1997 when a couple of cash-strapped grad students from Cleveland put out a low-budget film, the black comedy “Pieces.” No one appreciated it and no one saw it except for one guy, director/producer Steven Soderbergh, who was on the rise and instantly connected with the brothers in Park City, Utah at a local film festival.

Soderbergh would go on to produce their second flick, a crime caper shot in Cleveland, starring George Clooney and William H. Macy, called “Welcome to Collinwood.” Ron Howard plugged them into the screwball comedy series “Arrested Development,” and then came “Community,” which eventually got them in the door at Marvel Studios when President Kevin Feige saw an episode where the guys deftly blended comedy with action during a paintball shootout scene.