One of our readers, Travis, was recently featured as an extra in Justice For Natalee, a made-for-TV movie based on the Natalee Holloway case, and Hound Dogs, a new pilot shooting in New Orleans. Though we have been lucky enough to get a few specific New Orleans filming locations for both of these new projects, we haven’t heard much about either shoot, so we were excited to receive these set reports from Travis which outline his featured scenes. Check them out below:
For Hound Dogs, we shot at Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. Before shooting began, all the extras had to go through wardrobe check and the vibe was set in Tennessee. Once wardrobe had completed their walk-through, we then proceed to the set and were given beverages to use as props the entire time that we were filming. The scenes featured Laura Bell Bundy, who plays the love interest of Rob Mayes and their co-star, Ryan Doom.
During the scenes, I was at the bar and then I was mingling with some people outside the bar, and other varied places throughout the bar. There was one scene where Laura was a bartender and Mayes was talking to another guy in the bar and was inquiring about Laura’s character because he was interested in her. They also filmed Bundy and Mayes walking out of the bar together and kissing.
There was another scene that we filmed where a band was playing & people were dancing and and Bundy and Mayes did their scene while that was going on as well.
Once lunch arrived, they ate with us in the Extras Holding area. Not too may celebs eat with the extras. I was really really impressed by that because that is rare to see.
I asked Laura about her role as Mara Lewis on Guiding Light during lunch I and she told me that was ten years ago and that was in fact her. I sat down by her and Mayes and chatted with them for a few minutes during lunch and it was too cool!
After lunch, we did a few more shoots of previous scenes and we wrapped up at 8 pm, so today was kind of long-9am until 8pm, but it was fun having people in the streets and on the sidewalk ask what we were filming, who were the celebs, having them watch us film. I love being on the set and taking pics and getting to know the people I am working for/with.
For the scene I appeared in for Justice For Natalee, we shot on Saturday, Feb. 12th. It was set in Aruba and I was assigned to be a cameraman. We were filming at the Gretna Courthouse and they had other extras walking around as tourists as we were filming. Tracy Pollan (who is married to Michael J. Fox) plays Natalee Holloway’s mother, Beth Twitty.
After that scene finished at around 11 A.M., we changed into our second wardrobe choice to play FBI Agents for the next few hours, I had a gun and a badge! I was pretending to get cash out of the ATM Machine with confidential files in my hand outside of the building, which by the way was in Birmingham, Al. Then I was walking into the FBI Building with another extra while drinking coffee and pretending to talk while Tracy Pollan and Michael Beach (who plays her lawyer) were outside talking.
After a catered lunch, we filmed again between 3-8 P.M. I was a cameraman again because the actor playing Joran van der Sloot, Natalee’s suspected killer, was being brought into the FBI Building in handcuffs and we were supposed to swarm them and take pictures.
On Sunday, Feb. 13th we shot a scene at the Jefferson Parish Prison and we were waiting at the back entrance for Joran to appear and to be taken inside for booking and processing. I was part of the Media again. We shot from 9am-Noon doing that scene and that was the only scene that I was in. For the rest of the day, I was made into a detective, but they did not use me, they used other extras and posed them as inmates. Other people played police, etc.
[Photos Courtesy of Harmony]