My 15 minutes of fame

Well, I'm officially a movie star. Or, perhaps more accurately, I've had my film debut (beyond UPB promos -- pun intended). It's only a matter of time before Hollywood comes calling!

I suppose I should explain. On Saturday, I was at my friend's stall on the street when a man walked by and asked if I was from here (all of this was in Spanish). I thought it odd because my friend was clearly the vendor, so I told him no, but this was her stall and she could help him. He said no, he wanted to talk to me and not her, and again asked where I was from. He was excited when I told him the US and asked if I could speak English. Yes of course. "Great! I'm filming a movie here in the Plaza and I need people who can speak English. Would you please help me and be in it?" To prove he was legit, he showed me the logo/title of the movie and told me his first film had won an award in Argentina.

At first, I had an easy out because he wanted to film on Sunday and I already had plans. Not to be deterred, he inquired about Monday. Drat, I felt like I'd run out of excuses, so I said yes. Everyone here has been so helpful that I felt the need to pay it forward. Afterward, I wondered what I'd gotten myself into, but my friend assured me I looked sick and would probably have to stay home on Monday. Bless her!

From what Alex Jacome (the director) said, I figured I'd read a little speech and be done in less than an hour. If I felt uncomfortable, I'd just excuse myself by saying I had to meet up with my friends (which was true). It turns out, I was wrong wrong. I arrived at the Parque Bolivar (also called Parque Central) around 8:50 to find Alex and a group of Americans waiting (I was running late, but I also expected them to be on Ecuadorian time; they were not). Shortly after, a gaggle of makeup ladies (who also happen to be movie extras) showed up with their Mac arsenal to make us camera ready. Then came the camera crew and the police to block average Joses from walking into our shot. This was a full-on legit production!

We first filmed with a drone, then did several more takes with close-up cameras and sound booms, then more with a camera on a track that could slowly zoom in and out. They'll later cut it all together so it doesn't just jump around from above to a close-up, but instead flows. I have to admit, it was really cool to experience in person the behind the scenes of how a movie is made! It looks like my community theater background is finally paying off ;)

So much for thinking it would be a short little stint.  We didn't wrap till 2:20! The poor cast and crew weren't done, but thankfully we were because I was sufficiently sunburnt and starving (my bananas for bananas for breakfast and lunch had long since worn off). The other cool part was meeting other folks from the US who had also been wrangled into appearing in the film. I ended up eating lunch with one of the families; there's something unique about the solidarity of running into other people from your country when abroad.

We even made the news! http://www.elnorte.ec/otavalo/69984-filman-pel%C3%ADcula-de-cine-ecuatoriana-en-otavalo.html

Alex invited me to the premiere in November, but since I won't be here, I've told all my friends they'll have to watch it in theaters for me. He also said he'd give me a copy of his first movie as a thank you. I'm looking forward to watching it.