Fame and Fortune: Hollywood on the Vltava

This week I received an interesting email about casting for an English language film being shot by a Korean director and based on a French graphic novel*.  Then by a “coincidence” I happened to see an ad on Craig’s List for casting a shoot in Columbus, Ohio, USA as well as a Squidoo lens about being an extra in Atlanta, GA, USA, all within the course of two days.

Prague and its Barrandov Studios has long been the center of central European film making.  That and its old time beauty have led to many Hollywood style films being shot all or in part in Prague.  In the widget below I listed just a few of the more well known; the older are better in my opinion.  Conspicuously missing is Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol shot in 2011 and not on DVD yet.  See update below.

My point today is not to watch these movies for the few background scenes of Prague and the Czech Republic but to suggest that appearing in film and commercial video is another arrow in the quiver for supporting the expat lifestyle.  A little networking and a little schmoozing can get your name and number in front of the right people for when a project comes up in your city or country.

Children, especially with stage presence, are frequently needed for filming.  Here in Prague we have expat James Bridekirk and his StageStars  They teach theater at several English language schools as well as open Saturday sessions as well as act as agents for casting.  They also produced the Christmas Pantomime that Karin and I greatly enjoyed.  Hopefully I will get around to writing about it.

So whatever your skill or talent there is a way to earn an exciting experience, if not a living.  What ideas do you have?  Please comment.

*Feature Film: Snow Piercer; Writer/Director: Bong Joon-ho

Prague shoot dates: Jan- June, 2012

Update:  Here is a link for Amazon USA.  You can also get the above films from there.  That is, please use my Amazon U.K link for Europe and Amazon.com for USA.  Cheers.

Caped Cow Skull Curiosity

horned statues in Prague

We discovered these statues in a rear storage area of the Vystaviste Exhibition Grounds.  They very vaguely ring a bell in the back of my skull so I am quite curious as to the symbolism.  I don’t think I have seen anything similar in ancient art so it must be science fiction, Harry Potter or what?  Please email or contact on Facebook if you know who did these or for what purpose.  Cheers.

Update 22 Mar 2012:  Thanks to Richard Pokorny on Quora who confirmed that these are minotaurs created by students at the Academy of Art located near Vystaviste.  Minotaurs are an ancient Greek legend; I should have known that.

1 Dec Update: Comments appear to be working again.  Please leave a comment.

Large bird and minotaur in Prague, spooky

Too bad the bird wasn’t a Raven; then we would have an award winning photo.

 

David Cerny

David Cerny’s work can be seen every where in Prague, literally and figuratively.  The climbing babies on the Ziskov Tower in our original masthead photo are the prime example.

So after three months there we thought his name and reputation would be well known around the world.  But, to date, we have yet to have a conversation with anyone else who had heard of him.  In a Wikipedia search a footballer is ranked ahead of the artist.

When acquaintances ask us why we love Prague so much we usually waffle on about the architecture and the compactness of the city.  Now I am thinking I will just answer, David Cerny.  I think his art epitomizes the Czech character:  fun loving with depth.

Entropa:  controversial David Cerny sculpture, art work at DOX, PragueWe visited his Entropa in the DOX Museum.  This piece was commissioned by the EU to memorialize the Czech Republic’s term in the EU Presidency.  But I heard Cerny had to return the kc350,000 fee because the work made fun of most of the EU member countries depicted.

Click to enlarge or save to your computer to zoom in on the countries.  Some are obvious, others need the printed guide.

 

 

Entropa probably received the most Wenselaus on dead horse in Prague by Cernyinternational coverage but the work that is mentioned in most Prague guide books is Saint Wenceslas Riding a Dead Horse located in the Lucerna Palace.

While checking out the Franz Kafka Museum we discovered this kinetic sculpture by chance.  Click this link for a short video of Pissing Men.  Jeffery Martin tells the details here

Cerny is still active so we look forward to seeing what’s next and touring his Meet Factory on our next trip to Prague.

July 2012 Update:  Cerny is big in London:  Push-up Bus

Praise for Prague

We, Karin and Michael, have been travelling over the last three months to USA, Ireland, England and Scotland.  All of our family and friends in those countries asked about Prague and why we liked it so much.  The long answer would be to refer them to this blog and all the places we have been.  The short answer, perhaps, is architecture.

Recently, Ricky Yates, a Prague expat, has posted on the same subject.  Since we have not been posting here I will refer you to his blog which includes some great photos:  Prague Architecture with its amazing variety of decoration

Now that we are back in Greece and settling into a stationary life we will begin posting more about our experiences in Prague and the Czech Republic.