Thursday, July 30, 2020

If you are a long time reader, you may remember some of this that I am going to talk about today. A couple of years ago, I heard about Stargazer Films that works out of my city, Louisville. My son Jack started getting interested in acting around age 15 and I signed him up on their website to get information about being an extra in any films that would be shot locally. The film company makes movies to be on Hallmark and Lifetime mainly. When they are making a movie, they don’t know who will end up buying it apparently.

Well, an opportunity came up in winter of 2019 and Jack wasn’t interested, but guess who was? Me!

I went downtown after school and this was set up to be the “bakery”. It is normally just a commercial bakery and not meant for individuals to come in and shop and sit. I guess they had to bring in some tables and chairs, counter, etc. I think this was a former firehouse, by the way!

They had all of the extras in a hotel lobby across the street and they had to check out our clothing. They told us colors to wear or not wear. I would say there were about 25 extras of all ages.

I got to be in the first group to film! I had to sit at a table for two with another lady inside the bakery and pretend to talk to her.

I wasn’t supposed to take photos. This was one of the bakery clerks. Remember him because he will come up later. Doesn’t he have that typical “Hallmark movie actor” look?

I had to nibble this sprinkle cookie for multiple takes. I also had to pretend to drink coffee from an empty cup – harder than it sounds! We were pretending to be in Seattle. The cup says “Seattle’s Favorite”. I mean, could they have at least put water in my cup to make it about the same weight as a real coffee? Ha! My table partner got a little too excited about her cookie. I think she should have paced herself.

I only stayed there for that one scene and I guess I was there for two hours. It was fun and exciting! The main actress came in to the bakery and talked to her bestie about how stressed she was at work and how she never takes vacations. Then, she shouted to the employee, “Cookies! I need cookies!” If you want to watch the two minute trailer, it is right here. It is called “Starting Up Love”. To my knowledge it hasn’t been shown on t.v. yet. And, in the trailer, the bakery scene has totally different people so I’m pretty sure my group of extras got scrapped!

Last summer, we got an email saying extras were needed for “unnamed college thriller”. They needed kids to bring stuff like they were moving into a dorm and parents to look like they were moving their kids into the dorm. Um, okay! Dress rehearsal! This time, Jack did decided it would be something fun to put on his resume.

Jack is waiting for his scene below. I was a bit salty because I didn’t get to be his mom. I was put elsewhere and this time it was super boring. We had to repeatedly walk through the halls and into rooms. There are more production people than extras and actors, too.

So, from time to time I check the Stargazer Films website and I check Hallmark and Lifetime to see if I recognize “my” movies! Also, I know that they make lots of movies in Louisville and Kentucky because I heard we have good tax incentives for filmmakers?

Last week I found a gem on Lifetime! “Engaged to a Psycho” is the title and it was filmed almost totally here in my city!

You probably recognize this bridge from my boating on the river photos! This was the intro to the movie.

They used a prominent Louisville interior designer’s home for much of the shooting. My husband’s company built a house nearby and my bestie confirmed it was his house. She knows a lot about local real estate.

There is another scene at this house in a neighborhood near mine.

Tom thinks that this patio scene is at our friends’ old house in the same neighborhood as the above house. We had a couple’s wedding shower here on this patio if it is the same one!

There was a boat scene where we often go. It is called Captain’s Quarters and you can park your boat and they come to take your order. The bakery guy was also the captain on the boat in the blue button down.

The actors on top of the boat taking a cruise.

Bridge in background again.

I made my husband skim through it with me as well as my two besties when they were here last Friday for a happy hour. Isn’t that fun?

Have you ever been an extra? Would you do it? It’s not as glamorous as one would think I found out. There is a lot of waiting around!

Amy