All Hail Hillywood: An Interview with The Hillywood Show
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Hilly Hindi is a confetti cannon.
When an idea comes to mind for the next parody for the YouTube channel The Hillywood Show®, it explodes from her in hundreds of colorful pieces. Her sister, Hannah, waits (or as she says, disassociates) for all the pieces to land before color coordinating them into several piles. Blue with the blue, yellow with the yellow… until every piece has been accounted for.
Sometimes a second cannon explodes. It may be due to budget or time restrictions. As a completely independent, fan-funded creation, the sisters rely on their Patreon to help secure studio rentals, set designers, film permits and much more.
These ideas can be traced back to when Hilly was just 11 years old and watching the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings franchise. It is actually the inspiration for their behind-the-scenes videos that highlight their creation process. And while Hannah saw Hilly’s creativity soar, it was Hilly who knew she couldn’t make these ideas come to life without the help of her sister.
“Hannah has always been a natural leader,” Hilly said. “She’s always supported me. Without her, Hillywood wouldn’t exist.”
It was their 2009 parody of Twilight that caught the attention of Creation Entertainment founders Gary Berman and Adam Malin, who asked them to host their Twilight-themed convention. Their first convention involved writing mini parody sketches to perform before each actor began their panel, which turned into almost a decade worth of hosting Twilight and The Vampire Diaries conventions.
“We are very grateful for everything they did for us,” Hilly said.
“I think it made us more quick on our feet,” Hannah added. “It was a good learning experience and at the same time it was our first time meeting fans of what we did.”
In the years since they began hosting and attending conventions, they have been able to thank their fans for their unwavering support. They have also had multiple encounters where fans have thanked them for sparking their own creativity.
“There’s a lot of stories like that,” Hannah said. “It really hits home. It’s really rewarding. We’re fan-funded, we still have part time jobs… it’s a struggle still, even after all these years, but when people say those types of comments it makes it feel like the blessing that we needed.”
“It encourages us to keep going,” Hilly added. “We were afraid we would have to stop the show because of 2020, but because of our Patrons they helped us. They stuck with us and I feel so thankful. We owe them so much for keeping us afloat.”
While they have a collection of confetti cannon-filled ideas waiting to be created, there is actually one that they were unable to complete. It was inspired by the 2017 remake of It, and had two months of pre-production completed before having to be scrapped.
They also had a second Doctor Who parody that they wanted to create using quite a bit of visual effects. After meeting with a VFX artist and getting an idea of what the budget would become, they decided to put it on hold.
A temporary setback doesn’t keep them from abandoning the idea completely, but they know when to be creative and when to be realistic.
Hilly Hindi may be a confetti cannon, but Hannah Hindi dips the confetti into a water and flour mixture for a papier-mâché masterpiece. Their combined efforts in creating content is equal parts passion and admiration, and their love for fandoms is what makes them so lovable.
These ideas can be traced back to when Hilly was just 11 years old and watching the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings franchise. It is actually the inspiration for their behind-the-scenes videos that highlight their creation process. And while Hannah saw Hilly’s creativity soar, it was Hilly who knew she couldn’t make these ideas come to life without the help of her sister.
“Hannah has always been a natural leader,” Hilly said. “She’s always supported me. Without her, Hillywood wouldn’t exist.”
It was their 2009 parody of Twilight that caught the attention of Creation Entertainment founders Gary Berman and Adam Malin, who asked them to host their Twilight-themed convention. Their first convention involved writing mini parody sketches to perform before each actor began their panel, which turned into almost a decade worth of hosting Twilight and The Vampire Diaries conventions.
“We are very grateful for everything they did for us,” Hilly said.
“I think it made us more quick on our feet,” Hannah added. “It was a good learning experience and at the same time it was our first time meeting fans of what we did.”
In the years since they began hosting and attending conventions, they have been able to thank their fans for their unwavering support. They have also had multiple encounters where fans have thanked them for sparking their own creativity.
“There’s a lot of stories like that,” Hannah said. “It really hits home. It’s really rewarding. We’re fan-funded, we still have part time jobs… it’s a struggle still, even after all these years, but when people say those types of comments it makes it feel like the blessing that we needed.”
“It encourages us to keep going,” Hilly added. “We were afraid we would have to stop the show because of 2020, but because of our Patrons they helped us. They stuck with us and I feel so thankful. We owe them so much for keeping us afloat.”
While they have a collection of confetti cannon-filled ideas waiting to be created, there is actually one that they were unable to complete. It was inspired by the 2017 remake of It, and had two months of pre-production completed before having to be scrapped.
They also had a second Doctor Who parody that they wanted to create using quite a bit of visual effects. After meeting with a VFX artist and getting an idea of what the budget would become, they decided to put it on hold.
A temporary setback doesn’t keep them from abandoning the idea completely, but they know when to be creative and when to be realistic.
Hilly Hindi may be a confetti cannon, but Hannah Hindi dips the confetti into a water and flour mixture for a papier-mâché masterpiece. Their combined efforts in creating content is equal parts passion and admiration, and their love for fandoms is what makes them so lovable.
Please note: This article is being published at the time of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Any mention of struck work is related solely to the parodies created by The Hillywood Show and not in support of major studios, streamers and production companies. Black is the New AP Style strongly supports the SAG-AFTRA and WGA unions.
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