They often work on a shoestring budget. They borrow props and shop for costumes at vintage clothing stores. They cast friends as extras.

So it was a nice surprise when local filmmakers Randy and Leanne Bernard approached the Apex Chamber of Commerce about using the historic downtown as the setting for their black-and-white, Hitchcock-style murder mystery set in 1939.

“They were fantastic,” said Randy Bernard, describing the assistance he received from the town when the filming took place earlier this month.

The chamber opened its building to the couple. Police shut down the main merchant block on Salem Street for about three hours one evening.

The couple, who live in Cary and run their production company, BackFocus Films, from their Lochmere home, plan to enter their 25-minute film, titled “A Brush with Murder,” in the Sundance Film Festival.

With the thousands of entries the festival receives each year, the Bernards say they probably won’t hear anything until November.

BackFocus Films also does small commercial projects such as training videos and documentaries.

Randy said he became interested in doing a short film through being around the industry. Leanne is an actress and Randy has also had some roles in independent films.

Leanne wrote the script and plays the lead female character. The couple hired an actor from Greensboro, R. Keith Harris, to play the male lead.

The story is a suspense about a blackmail scheme following the death of a local artist. Some scenes were also shot at an early 1900s- era home on South Hughes Street.

Randy directed the film.

“I’m in awe of what he’s been able to accomplish behind the camera,” Leanne said.

Even if the film doesn’t make it to the high-profile Sundance festival, the couple said there will be opportunities to see it locally. It will be shown at the Salem Street Arts Festival on Oct. 4 at the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex.

You never know what can happen — the popular 2004 comedy “Napoleon Dynamite” started out as a short film shown at Sundance. “The Blair Witch Project” is another example of independent-movie success.

“Just having the Sundance label is enough credibility for future projects,” Randy said.

Too learn more, BackFocus Films has a Web site at backfocusfilms.com.