The FP (2011)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: California

The FP is a 2011 American comedy film written and directed by Brandon and Jason Trost. The film focuses on two gangs, the 248 and the 245, fighting for control of Frazier Park. The gangs settle their disputes by playing Beat-Beat Revelation, a music video game similar to Dance Dance Revolution. Gang member JTRO trains to defeat L Dubba E, the leader of a rival gang. The film also features Caitlyn Folley, Art Hsu, Nick Principe and Dov Tiefenbach.

Production

Jason Trost conceived The FP when he was 16 years old and regularly played Dance Dance Revolution. He noticed people playing the game intensely and thought of treating the gameplay "like some blood sport". Trost made short films throughout high school before briefly attending film school. After dropping out, he used his tuition money to fund a short film, also titled The FP (2007).

The Trost brothers asked producer Brandon Barrera to act in the short film. After seeing their work, Barrera suggested that the brothers expand the premise into a feature film. The filmmakers placed an advertisement in the Mountain Enterprise, the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass's newspaper, encouraging community members to call if they wanted to help with locations, catering, donations, or by serving as extras or crew members on the film.

The Trost brothers named The FP after Frazier Park, California, where they grew up. Jason Trost said locals started referring to Frazier Park as "the FP" after The O.C. began airing. He also said the film's story copies that of Rocky "beat for beat" and that there were "near-plagiarism moments". All the character names were based on his friends.

The settings in The FP were written using the materials that the Trosts' father had on his property due to the minimal budget. Jason Trost said he had seen several low-budget films that "try to be something they aren't" and did not want to feign the production value. When they are defeated in a dance-off, characters in the film die of a "187", which is slang for murder that originated from California Penal Code.

Jason Trost (JTRO), Lee Valmassy (L Dubba E), Brandon Barrera (BTRO), and James DeBello (Beat Box Busta Bill) reprised their roles from the original short film, while Diane Gaeta (Stacy), Kris Lemche (KCDC), and Torry Haynes (Sugga Nigga) were replaced with Caitlyn Folley, Art Hsu, and Bryan Goddard, respectively. Goddard was cast as a "rite of passage" for being a noteworthy resident of Frazier Park.

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