Actor Brian Prisco, who has a long range of TV credits ranging from Bones to 2 Broke Girls, graduates to leading man for his latest project, a movie with a difference – The Plumber. The second episode of a new ‘app’ called MovieMaze, it’s a film in which the consumer gets to choose how things end. Yep, you’re in control… of Brian!
by Bethany Rose
IM: How did you meet the gang at MovieMaze?
BP: I actually auditioned for a small part in the first MovieMaze: The Mechanic. And I mean that. A small part. It was actually meant for a little person, but they liked my performance, so they kind of modified it slightly for me. And through that, I’ve been working with them ever since.
IM: I believe this is the second time you’ve now worked with them? But this time, you have the lead role! Did you feel any pressure?
BP: No pressure at all. Erik and Maria are pros, and it’s always a smooth shoot. Plus, there’s this atmosphere where it’s cool to play around, so if see a neat location or have an idea, we just bang out the shot. But when they showed me the sheer scope of what they had planned for this, my jaw dropped. This was a massive production with so many exciting locations.
IM: Is it any different doing an ‘app’ than it is doing a full-length film or series?
BP: If anything, it feels more like playing. We have the dead ends and we have the script as a map to follow, but sometimes we just think of something in the moment and try it and get these great unexpected moments. Rishi and Maria point us in one direction but give us the leverage with the characters to really try some neat stuff.
IM: How long were you on set for?
BP: For the scope of the production, we really managed a super-fast shoot. We didn’t do more than one or two days in each location. I think all in all, it was six days, maybe seven at most.
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IM: Is there a lot of green screen or special effects work?
BP: There’s definitely some. But what’s great is, Erik does most of the effects, or he knows what it’s going to look like, so he just guides you through and then builds it around you. But there’s also a ton of practical work – especially Hairyette. Their monster effects guys are awesome.
IM: How does the app actually work – is it a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure story?
BP: A bit. One of the studios owns the rights to the actual book set, and supposedly they plan to do a theatrical adaptation, but I have no idea how that would work satisfactorily, unless it was something like Clue or the Nic Cage movie Next. And there are other people trying to do that, but MovieMaze was first to the market, and they’ve really got the formula locked down.
But they definitely play out like a maze, you hit a bunch of dead ends. Which have some spectacularly hilarious and gruesome results. And while the Mechanic was really a lot of fun, with The Plumber, you make one choice, and you’re dealing with an alien take-over. You go down a different path, you’re fighting witches in the desert, and it’s basically a completely different story. So there’s a lot of avenues to explore.
IM: Have you played it yourself?
BP: The Mechanic, definitely. And since all actors are egotists, I kept playing it because I was trying to find my part as the robber. But for the longest time, I kept getting the werewolf story. Eventually, I found me and my “brothers.”
IM: Are you hoping for a bigscreen ‘Plumber’ movie in the future?
BP: Nah! This works so much better and more entertaining as the app. But what’s really great is, the next MovieMaze we have planned is The Babysitter, which is horror based. And Erik and Maria let me write the script for that one. And it is INTENSE. There’s so much potential for the MovieMaze formula, avenues we have just been brainstorming. THAT’s what I’m looking forward to.
IM: You’ve done a lot of TV work over the years, is there a favorite smallscreen job you’ve had?
BP: Most of my work on television to date has been background, but as characters in the scene without lines. My favorite gig was actually an internet commercial we shot for Playstation, when they were running their Kevin Butler VP character. It was an “infomercial” for smack-talking on their baseball game – the SHAFT method. And I was the Accents guy. So for one set of takes, Kevin Butler just kept throwing out accents: “French! Japanese! Pirate! Armenian! Bronx! Scottish! Southern!” And I would just riff. It went for like a steady 30 different accents until he threw out Abominable Snowman, and I had nothing. It was so much fun. Four of the accents made it into the commercial, including Swedish Chef.
MovieMaze: The Plumber will be launched at AmazingArizona Feb. 13-15
