These so-called imposters are the subject of Killeen’s first documentary, Google Me. A few years ago, the 38-year-old Los Angeles resident (meaning, aspiring actor) hatched a simple plan: Track down the other Jim Killeens of the world via Google—no leeway for any James or Jimmy—and hang out with them while the cameras roll. Among them were a St. Louis native raising a large, devout Christian family, a retired ex-cop from New York and a Scotsman who designs highway interchanges.

Something similar happened in 2005’s The Grace Lee Project, which aimed to dispel any perception that all Grace Lees were the same. Jim Killeen the documentarian, though, sought out commonality, not differences, in his subjects—and his ambitions were about as lofty as you can get. As a counter to the media’s obsession with extremists, he wanted to discover a shared humanity. “The lie [perpetuated] is that I hate Muslims, and Muslims hate America, and someone is making that lie happen in present time because they need to sell missiles or bullets or whatever,” he says. “But I believe the real truth is that we’re more connected in the world than we are separate. People just want to survive, man; people want to pay their mortgage and find food for their kids to eat.”

If the obvious Why Can’t We All Just Get Along undertone makes you groan, you’re not alone—but perhaps Google Me’s greatest feat is that Killeen really does get to the heart of the other Jim Killeens. He gains incredible access to his subjects: Questions like “What is man’s purpose?” and “What shouldn’t I be asking you about?” elicit thoughtful, honest responses (“My relationship with my ex-wife,” the big-time swinger from Denver answers; cut to interview with his third divorcée), and the Aussie who helms a nonprofit offers to put him up even before they meet.

“[Sharing a name with someone] gives you tremendous license. There’s an immediate kind of acceptance,” he notes. “You show up with a film crew, set up lights in their living room and start asking intimate questions—maybe questions they’ve never been asked or never considered. Just because you have the same name. It’s absolutely an in.”

Not only that, but Killeen discovers that just about everyone’s obsessed with same-name people. (Note the hype around Sarah Marshalls when Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released.) After meeting his doppelgängers, he decides to get everyone together in—where else?—Killeen, Texas. The mayor presents the filmmaker with a key to the city, and the group descends on a chili cook-off to stir up their secret “family” recipe, wear matching cowboy hats and repeat a bit over and over in which someone says “Jim” and the whole group replies “What?”—and passersby squeal with glee. Meanwhile, the Jim Killeens bond among themselves, especially, and oddly, the Irish priest and Denver Jim. “Communication is the universal solvent,” Killeen says.

Killeen took a bit of a fiscal gamble to embark on this yearlong endeavor, especially given his fear that the doc would end up as “I’m Jim Killeen; you’re Jim Killeen; cool.” But he’s a gambling man, having regularly played in poker tournaments. He hedged his bets, though, when it came to the film’s release, avoiding theaters and premiering it last week on…YouTube (DVDs are available, too). “I had heard so many horror stories from independent filmmakers who signed with distribution companies. They had to wait two years to find out if they were gonna get screwed financially,” he says.

But YouTube? “It gives us the ability to go straight to our demographic, which I can do as the content creator. They say content is key; I’m going to try and prove that. I’m fairly confident at taking calculated risks,” he says. “It’s a real responsibility, being the mouthpiece of all things Jim Killeen.”

Find Google Me on DVD now.