Prague Film Project: Princess

My friend Patrick, aka Pootee the Explorer is making 1 short film per month of Remote Year.  (You may recall I was an actor in his Bolivia: Salt Flat People film)  As an experiment in Prague, he opened the plot to anyone who wanted to pitch a story.  I wrote 3 ideas and he chose 1 to make into a short film.    

I wrote a short and simple concept, and then Patrick took the ball and ran with it.  

He side stepped out of the backfield, bowled over some defensive lineman, juked a couple linebackers out of their jockstraps, stiff armed a corner, did a 360 spin around the free safety and high stepped into the end zone for a touchdown!  He even did a Beyonce style touchdown celebration dance.

I am so happy with the way this turned out and I think it was a great collaboration.  Patrick and I have a similar sense of humor and our goals with Princess seemed to line up perfectly.  And it was a fun production to be a part of from location scouting, to casting, to production, etc.  

The plot centers on a ridiculously naive American girl who comes to Prague to find her prince.  It's a musical of sorts, with some classic Disney elements.  Laura Pounds was the perfect Princess!!!

Prague is a gorgeous city to film in and our actors are just as gorgeous!

Jonathan Black and Anhton Tran were phenomenal backup singers and dancers and brought incredible energy to the movie!  And the amazingly talented Natalie Underwood provided the perfect voice-over to set the tone for the film.

We had an absolute blast filming.  Everything fell into place in a two day shoot.  Like, when we ran into these white birds on the Charles Bridge.  Disney Princesses are always very animal friendly.

SPOILER ALERT : The rest of this post will contain imagery and info that you should not see before watching the film.  So, without further adieu, here is Princess:

Short Film. A princess goes to Prague in hopes of finding her Prince.

SPOILER ALERT : Film reveal info is just below these next few lines!!!  Stop now and watch the film!  Don't scroll down until you watch!
 

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Ok, now that you've watched the film, you probably know why I did not want you to see the rest of these behind the scenes pics.  

Can't reveal the Prince before you watch the film!

Richard Hessler was the perfect Prince.  He played it so well, and I think he even looks like a classic Disney Prince, don't you?

One of the challenges of making this movie was finding a Prince t-shirt.  We tried a few different stores in Prague, but to no avail.  I was forced to make a t-shirt.  I think it turned out well.

After painting the shirt, I had to dirty it up and make it look "homeless" chic.  I was rubbing this white t-shirt all over the ground.  People thought I was weird.  

But, the shirt wasn't getting dirty enough on the dry groundSo, I rubbed it in a dirty puddle.  And then, i was worried that it was TOO dirty.  It was really nasty and dark and almost obscured the word PRINCE.  But, when it dried, I think it looked appropriately worn and disheveled.  

The other big prop we needed was the Frog from Prague.  Luckily, some typical Prague souvenirs are puppets.  We were able to find this ratty little puppet that i think was perfect.  

One of the funnier moments of filming came at the dinner scene.  Richard was playing a homeless man, and surely was to be hungry.  When she goes to toast with him, he chugged the glass of wine, picked up the bottle of wine, and chugged a quarter of it and then started WOLFING down the food.  This was one take and we all could barely keep from laughing!  

Well played, Richard.  He nailed it.

Hope you liked Princess as much as we liked making it!  The reviews have been funny so far.  People seemed to love the build up but were a little shell shocked by the ending.  People asked me afterward if I needed a hug.  

Naw, I'm good!  I'm a hopeless romantic.  But, hey --- happy endings are for Hollywood.

Salar de Uyuni - Short Film

World’s largest salt flats (~11,000 sq km), Salar de Uyuni was on my Bolivia bucket list.  It’s hard to describe the beauty of this desolate, dried up lake.  Looks like snow.  The exceptionally clear blue skies combined with white as far as you can see make for a brilliant backdrop to shoot a film.  

Mi amigo de Los Angeles, Patrick, aka Pootee the Explorer is creating one short film in each of our 12 cities.  So, Patrick, Jonathan and I set out to shoot in the salt flats.  

I am one of the actors, although I don't have any speaking lines.  In the film, we communicate through telepathy and voice overs will be added later.  The script is still in production...very curious to see how it plays out.  Knowing Patrick, it will be hilarious!

Jonathan, played the role of one of the rare 'Salt Flat People'.  Kudos to este hombre for welcoming the body, face and hair paint!  Poor guy had white on him the rest of the trip.  He was able to take a shower at our hostel, but they yelled at him when he was taking too long.  And, then I think he got a rash from the paint.  Actin' ain't easy!

Salar de Uyuni.  Lo que es un lugar perfecto para una película!  (What a perfect place for a film!)

Stay tuned for said film...and more stories n snaps from the Salt Flats.