THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE Financing and Production

The challenge of making an independent picture is to find all the pieces that can fit together at the same time. When we found the director and Paris, the rest fell into place… with a good amount of coaxing.

Even though we had funding, the film was envisioned at a larger budget and we had to get creative with the budgeting of resources and time. It was a quick 21­day shoot in Los Angeles with one of the most photographed people in the world. Extra security was called in to help with the invasion of paparazzi, but every day Paris Hilton was working, an encampment of cameras was set up just beyond the perimeter of our set.

The paparazzi provided some entertainment for us when filming at a Venice nightclub. They were lying in wait at a parking lot across the street when one of the production’s white SUVs pulled up. Suddenly, the paparazzi jumped over the hoods of parked cars and dodged security to get in front of Paris on the sidewalk. They lowered their cameras and let out a collective groan when they saw that it was Paris’s stunt double.

Besides herding paparazzi, the production also had to contend with weather in Los Angeles, which is usually not a factor. L.A. is well-known for its fun in the sun, but poor Paris Hilton found herself clad in a tiny white bikini on a day of record-breaking cold in January while crew members kept warm in their hats and gloves. Mother Nature showed she had a wicked sense of humor when we were shooting for Nate’s cold climate apartment in Maine. On that day, Los Angeles had near 90-degree weather. The crew was running around in shorts and t-shirts while the actors were sweating in wool coats.

The cast and crew worked incredibly hard on this film and we congratulate them on making such an endearing comedy about love lost and found in the funniest of places.

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