Local groomer and her dog in movie as extras
A new movie featuring local dog groomer Colleen Brown and her Afghan hound Fancy as extras is set to hit theaters this weekend. “Show Dogs” was originally released today nationwide, but Lodi Stadium 12 began showings Thursday night.
The movie is about a talking police canine that teams up with a FBI agent and goes undercover in the dog show world to rescue a kidnapped baby panda.
“I was one of the upper echelon extras. Kind of like a step above the regular extras. There were no talking lines but me and my dog were in a couple of scenes,” Brown said.
Brown and Fancy were featured in a scene where they walked the blue carpet. They were also featured during a cocktail party scene. The two traveled to Las Vegas last year to film at Caesar’s Palace. They spent about four nights filming their scenes.
“It was really cool they filmed from 4 p.m. in the afternoon until like 7 a.m. in the morning, so my days were totally reversed,” Brown said. “When you came on set in the afternoon everybody was saying good morning, and we had lunch time at like midnight. We got to wander around the Caesar’s Palace pool and really see how a movie was made without any public there. People were watching from their hotel rooms, but they couldn’t go on the set.”
While a portion of the movie was filmed in Las Vegas, a majority was filmed in the United kingdom. However, none of Brown and Fancy’s scenes were shot in the UK.
“It was really interesting to me seeing the amount of work that goes into what could possibly be three minutes of the movie,” she said.
For Brown, the biggest challenge of filming the movie was filming a summer scene in 40-degree weather.
“That was interesting. Everybody was bundled up until they actually shot the real take,” she said. “Everybody threw off their coats and pretended to be warm when they were filming.”
Maintaining Fancy’s fur was also a challenge, she said.
“There’s a lot of hair on Afghan hounds and keeping it in good condition or movie worthy for four days straight was a challenge,” she explained.
Fancy behaved very well on set and easily cooperated with direction, which wasn’t a surprise because she is a grand champion show dog.
Fancy and Brown’s other Afghan hound, Nika, have done a number of commercials, TV shows and print ads. They have also walked in fashion shows. Nika even had the opportunity to walk down a runway with 2015 Miss America Kira Kazantsev. Word got out in the industry about her dogs and she was asked to send in a portfolio.
As of Thursday, Brown had not seen the movie and was anxious to see how it turned out.
“I have no idea what parts will be there. I was in the trailer, so I’m assuming I made it and they didn’t cut me,” she giggled. “I‘m hoping that it looks OK. I have no idea what it will be like.”
For Brown, filming the movie was an unforgettable experience that she can check off her bucket list.
“I feel very privileged that my dogs have allowed me to go so many places and see so many things that I wouldn’t have normally gotten to do or see,” she said. “The dogs have been a window for me to meet famous people and do some pretty cool stuff.”