Have you ever been a fan of a television show? How about the fan of a particular actor or actress? If you are anything like those of us here at NiceGirlsTV, you can easily answer “yes” to both of those questions. But what type of fan does it take to participate in the making of a commercial in honor of a favorite actress? An answer to that question can be found in the fans involved in the Legendary Chloe Project.
The ad in production.
What is this project, you ask? It is a professionally-filmed tribute commercial saluting the nine years of work by actress Allison Mack in her role of Chloe Sullivan in the long-running CW series Smallville. The commercial follows the journey of Chloe from her introduction as a high school student in Smallville to being hired at the Daily Planet as well as becoming Clark Kent’s confidante.
This project was scripted and fully funded by the fans who joined in the project. This commercial is also the first of its kind: a tribute ad made by the fans in honor of a character and actress on a “currently-in-production” series. The commercial was put in the capable hands of director Jon Michael Kondrath, who was instrumental to the production, helping to assemble the crew, providing motivation to the actresses and sharpening the vision of the project organizers. The commercial was filmed in late February in Los Angeles.
It is the hope of the organizers to have the tribute ad air on KTLA, the local LA affiliate of the CW, in May to coincide with sweeps. But just because the tribute ad is complete doesn’t mean the organizers are done there. They do have hopes of other projects in the future, but for now those plans are being kept under wraps.
The following is a brief interview with the folks behind the Legendary Chloe Project:
NGTV: How many fans were involved in the contributions to and the making of the commercial?
LCP: [There was no official] head count, [rather it was about] being proud of how fans around the world – from Japan to Australia to the United States – were able to come together to create something meaningful for Ms. Mack and in honor of [her character] Chloe.
"Stunt-fans" express the admiration of many.
NGTV: Were fans the only ones featured in the commercial?LCP: We wanted to have a professional feel for the commercial and [after much discussion it was decided to] hire actresses or “stunt-Chloe fans”. We did, however, work very hard to make sure that the actresses felt like real every day girls and represented the wide variety of fans out there. The “stunt-Chloe fans” included in the commercial appear as a career girl, a hippie and a college girl.
NGTV: Can you share how much money was raised for this project?
LCP: [Due to] crew contracts, we cannot divulge that information; however, we can say that fans [from across the globe] were enthusiastic about donating. We did, though, make some funds by raffling off the t-shirts worn by the actresses in the ad.
NGTV: Has your group done anything like this in the past for Allison?
LCP: Smallville fans participated in Operation: Truth & Justice, another initiative to honor Ms. Mack, in which fans donated $3000 to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation in her name and sent her baskets of fan created gifts in appreciation of her performance.
If you would like more information about the Legendary Chloe Project, you can visit their site, follow them on Twitter, or visit their Facebook page called Legendary Chloe. You can also email them at admin@legendarychloe.com.
You can learn more about director Jon Michael Hondrath at his website.
UPDATE: The fan-made ad is expected to air twice during the 6 to 7 o’clock hour on Friday, May 14, the same night as the season finale of Smallville.
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