Exclusive: Jeff Daniels, Timothy Busfield and Melissa Gilbert have teamed to launch Grand River Productions, with their first project, Guest Artist, set to have its world premiere Saturday at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. The creative partnership joins the fellow Michiganders who will look to mount modest-budget films.

That plan starts with Guest Artist, which Daniels adapted from his stage play and stars in. Busfield directed, and the trio are producing along with Tony-winning Broadway producer Michael A. Alden and executive producer Donald Clark.

“Our shared love of the American theatre is evident in every frame of our modern little throwback,” Daniels said. “Together, we felt that there was a film in Guest Artist that spoke to the precarious role of the American artist and that made it the perfect project for Grand River Productions’ feature film debut.”

Daniels, who just won an Emmy Award, his second, for Netflix’s Godless,...