What would be a last-ditch effort for a struggling rock band trying to garner attention on the music scene? Hop a plane to Tokyo, of course, and make it big in Japan. That’s the premise of writer and director John Jeffcoat’s comical film “Big in Japan,” which chronicles the mad-capped musical odyssey of a Seattle band on tour in Japan. The feature will be shown on Vashon’s silver screen Friday as a fundraiser for Friends of the Vashon Library (FOL). Jeffcoat will be on hand after the show for a question and answer session.

Jeffcoat, whose other popular films include “Outsourced” and “Bingo,” said the idea for “Big in Japan” arose at a time when he was shooting a lot of documentaries about Seattle bands for MTV and writing scripts for an NBC series based on his film “Outsourced.” He longed to return to the world of production.

“I wanted to do something fun with a small crew — a rock’n’roll movie,” Jeffcoat recalled. “An MTV producer said she knew of a band who wanted to do a reality show, but I wasn’t interested in doing a documentary.”

Nevertheless, Jeffcoat met with the band Tennis Pro, and the decision was eventually made to book gigs in Japan, where Jeffcoat would shoot the band’s performances. Jeffcoat said the whole trip was pretty much improvised. After reviewing the footage, Jeffcoat wrote a script and then returned to Japan with the band to shoot scenes to fill in the narrative, and the ersatz documentary was born.

“Big in Japan” tells a story with humor and heart that is loosely based on the band’s misadventures. It has been likened to The Beatles’ movie “A Hard Day’s Night” ­— not in comparison to the musical performances, but rather in the way Jeffcoat’s guerilla-style filming captures the antics of the group’s Japan tour.

Along the way, Vashon played a supporting role in the feature. Four years ago, Jeffcoat, his wife and two children moved to the island looking to recreate the feel of the small farming community in South Africa where they had previously lived.

“I edited ‘Big in Japan’ on the island in my home office,” Jeffcoat said, “and I wrote a lot of the script at the Mingelment Roasterie, Café Luna and Snapdragon.”

Jeffcoat said he and his family have also spent a good deal of time at the Vashon Library. So when the librarians, who are self-confessed “Outsourced” fans, asked Jeffcoat if he could help with a fundraiser, he readily agreed.

Jan Riley, operations supervisor for Vashon Library, explained that Vashon Film Society and the Vashon Theatre are also helping FOL, an independent group that raises money for library programs.

“FOL pays for some of our most popular programs like Norm Hollingshead’s opera previews and the free SAT prep for our high school students,” Riley said. “They also contributed to the Library To Go van, which visits preschools, Chautauqua and seniors, bringing them books and offering readers’ advisory … and have funded supplies for our very popular Late Night for Teens program.”

As for Jeffcoat, he said he is happy to support the library.

“I’ve always been a big fan of libraries,” he said.

“Big in Japan” will play at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets will be $10 at the door. “Outsourced” will run on April 13.

For more information and to view the trailer for “Big in Japan,” visit biginjapanthemovie.net.