Although The Hillywood Show has been around for quite some time, we clueless Daves didn’t discover them until last fall. Our fanboy lives would be forever changed when my teen daughter, Jade, introduced me to their Walking Dead parody to the tune of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” I quickly sent that along to the other Dave (David Albaugh) incorrectly assuming this was a one shot deal and having no idea of the online phenomena they were. By the time the day was out, David had already bought their autographs and t-shirts while sharing clips of their other parodies (my favorite being the Dr. WHO “Time Warp”) on social media. He’d end up writing a post about them, too (which you can read along with finding links to their parodies HERE). So when Jade expressed a desire to meet them, I requested the day off and made showing up for the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo C2E2 on Friday top priority.

We checked out the map in the FREE C2E2 program and quickly made our way to their booth. When we arrived they were alone and dressed in their “Supernatural” costumes; Hilly as Dean and Hannah as Castiel. The duo covered this fan-favorite show to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” and it would feature just about all the major actors in fun, cameo roles. We considered ourselves pretty lucky to catch them alone and Jade wasted no time telling them how much she admired their work. They were very nice (and a lot shorter than I imagined) and showed a genuine appreciation to Jade…something that would also be evident during their panel discussion towards the rest of their fans. We bought some of their swag and had a photo taken.

As the time for their panel drew near, we headed up to the 4^th floor in the hopes of getting good seats. Apparently, we weren’t alone…

Once the room was open, the line actually moved pretty fast and we still managed to get decent seats. After some technical issues, the panel was underway! It consisted of them playing their aforementioned parodies (the audience would be given two choices and then vote by applause which ones  they’d play) and fan Q&A. Here’s a sampling of those questions…

Have they ever thought of doing a Super Smash Bros parody?

Hilly: A video game parody, huh? You know what video game parody I’d like to do is Skyrim. (Audience cheers). I know a lot of requests come from games, anime, and things like that so we’re doing our homework. We’re not going to say no.  We like to do what we love and we do love video games.

About their TWILIGHT parodies

Hannah: That was five years of our lives. What is funny is that people are ashamed to talk about TWILIGHT now but, honestly, TWILIGHT saved the Hillywod Show. Originally we did the show with little episodes of Jack Sparrow and the went on for like two years. But we noticed our views weren’t growing…like maybe 60,000 views in two years and that was as big as it got for one video. We wanted more so she (points to Hilly) brought up TWILIGHT when it was new. We liked the movie and director and decided to just focus on that; creating the first movie (YouTube) musical.  So we decided we’ll just do this and call it a day. And then, over night, it got 100,000 hits after waiting two years for 60,000 we took it as a sign from God that there was a plan.

Did they know how to do the “Time Warp” before doing the Dr. WHO parody

Hilly: Yes, but we wanted to change the choreography a bit to make it more personal and up to date.

Would they ever consider doing a parody of Captain America: Civil War to Bad Blood?” 

Hannah: It’s hard because there’s certain things we will do and certain things we won;t do. I will say that we do have an idea for Marvel. We already know what we want to do but it all comes down to the costumes. It’s there and I’m not saying “No’ because ever time I do we end up doing it.

Did they have to learn the one-handed horse riding maneuvers used in The Walking Dead parody just for the video?

Hilly: No, I’ve done dome riding before. I’m not the most experienced but I knew what I wanted the shot to be so I’m like, “If I fall off, oh well.” She was a great horse, and older female so she didn’t try anything scary with me. I did try out another horse prior to her and it wouldn’t do anything except trot. So they said, give it a little nudge. She didn’t tell me it was barrel racing horse and I was gone with the wind and learned very fast how to not fall off.

What was their favorite part of working with Rob Benedict from “Supernatural?”

Hilly: The fact that he thought my beard was real. (laughter)

Hannah: I’m not sure how that happened but I tried to explain to Rob that Hilly is going to have a lot of make-up on and how the process worked and he somehow got that she slaps her face and the hair grows out. I’m not sure how he got that but he was obviously tired that morning.

What was their background on stage production?

Hilly:…Nothing. (laughter)

Hannah: I think it’s just that we’re fans of what we create and when you’re fans you know everything. We know and we research everything to make sure what you guys love is on stage. We’re still learning and we don’t call ourselves professional at all…just learning as we go.

What’s your favorite part of making parodies?

Hannah: When it’s done. (laughter). I actually have enjoyed shooting Sherlock (latest parody in production) and I’m not really sure what happened. I think we’ve worked with each other a while now and we know our designated jobs. But I like seeing when it’s done and I like seeing all of your comments. Filming is stressful to me because it’s her vision and I have to make it happen. And then she (Hilly) edits and is the one who’s stressed. 

How they get their long hair to fit so perfectly under short-hair wigs

Hannah: We’re not going to give all our secrets but we do tell people if you are going to put a wig on, iron your hair do not wear it curly because it will not do anything for you. It’s nice and tight up there and does give a headache after awhile.

What was one of their favorite moments making the Warm Bodies parody

Hilly: The fact that we were actually wearing the actor’s clothes.

Hannah: We were randomly contacted by someone who owned them and they were like, “Do you want to borrow them?” and we’re like, “Um…yes?” And the amazing thing was that the clothes perfectly fit him and her.

Where Hilly gets all the ideas from

Hilly: Usually while I’m at the gym. If you saw me working out I’m like in “la la land,” just zoning out and that’s where most of my ideas come to me.

Fore more information  on the Hillywood Show and how you can support their artistic projects, visit their official site!  

Dave & Jade Fuentes~

Next up…our favorite 2016 C2E2 Cosplay!