Stand by. Standing by. Roll tape. Rolling. Action!

In one of the most ambitious school projects of all time, my boss’s 15-year old daughter, Nikki, has taken on the scripting, casting, production, and editing of a 30-minute "horror comedy"…an endeavor requiring no less than 8 actors, 6+ crew members, dozens of extras, 18 scenes, several evenings of rehearsals, and two full weekends of filming.

For no compensation.

Filmed Blair Witch style, “The Road to Mpumudde” is told from the perspective of two 20-something American guys who have come to Uganda to do a school journalism project. Ripped off by taxi drivers, Derek and Bill are left in the middle of no where without any belongings. As they try to get out over the next few days, things get increasingly creepy, until…

Well you’ll just have to wait until it hits the big screen to find that out, now, won’t you?

As the only 20-something American that Nikki knows, I was tasked with the job of recruiting 20-something(ish) American males. After trying every trick in the book – drink promises, arm twisting, puppy dog eyes – I finally managed to land one star and one extra (meaning that, yes, one of the American leads was played by...a Ugandan). Best Sport of the Year Award goes to Lance (aka, “Bill”), with Honorable Mention to Doug, who (finally) agreed to be an extra in the campfire scene.

And yes, part of the deal was that I would buy their drinks from now until the end of time.

In addition to male mzungu recruiter, my other roles of utmost import in this no-budget film included soda hander-outer, eye glasses holder, behind the scenes photo documenter, and non-speaking extra in the campfire scene. Oh, and at one point, they used the back of my shirt to do white balance.

Think any of that lands me a spot in the credits?