‘Hillywood’ sisters continue to reach for Hollywood fame
After years of fantasizing about it, months planning it and 14 days shooting it — a production record for "The Hillywood Show" — Hannah and Hilly Hindi posted their "Supernatural" parody video and watched to see how fans would receive it.
One, two, three and four million likes later during a four-day period, the sisters count the video a success, with recognition in BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, Nerdist and many other media outlets.
"It's crazy how quickly it happened," Hannah Hindi says. "Our fan base has been very supportive. We are extremely blessed."
In an age when people can easily show their talents through outlets such as YouTube, sisters Hilly, 25, and Hannah, 29, Hindi decided to add to the mix.
Through "The Hillywood Show," the duo makes parody videos of their favorite films and TV shows through a song and dance.
In 2009, the show developed a following after their "Twilight" parody videos.
Twihards, the fan base of the "Twilight" book series, contracted the sisters to be a part of the "Twilight" conventions.
After filming videos for "Twilight," "New Moon," "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn," the girls moved on to other videos ranging from "The Dark Knight" to "The Runaways."
They have even tapped into high-rated television shows such as "Dr. Who" and "The Walking Dead."
When they started doing videos of the CW show "The Vampire Dairies," they attracted another group of fans, which resulted in three years of conventions for them. Their YouTube page has more than a million subscribers.
With more and more followers, the productions got more elaborate as well.
Hilly Hindi would draft the concept beginning to end then present the idea to Hannah, who would work out the scheduling, casting, costume design and budget for the productions. In some cases, she would even organize a travel schedule to places such as Oregon for parodies that required more scenic backgrounds.
After about five to nine days filming followed by time editing, they would release their videos to the masses and eagerly await the response.
People seemed to enjoy their videos, inspiring them to take on new ideas.
A year ago, they tackled their biggest challenge in doing their version of the CW show "Supernatural," which is done to the tune of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off!"
"We had three hours of footage for a seven-minute video," Hilly Hindi recalls.
Because of their videos of young adult genres and their standing in various fan communities, they were able to make enough connections to do a "Hillywood Show" first — a celebrity appearance.
"Supernatural" series regulars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki participated in the video, which was uploaded May 21.
The sisters always hope their videos play well with fans.
"We take their criticisms very seriously," Hilly says. "But we only received positive comments on this."
More than that, the video proved to be the sisters' most viewed parody with more than 8 million views.
For 2016, the Hindis are seeking funding for their next idea, "Sherlock Holmes." The sisters, who work as part-time dance instructors, are looking to raise about $25,000 to help with production costs.
They have raised about $10,000 of their goal.
"It's a massive idea," Hannah says.
Hilly Hindi says the ultimate goal would be a "Sherlock Holmes" and "Dr. Who" crossover parody.
"But we have to do a 'Sherlock Holmes' video first," she says.
They plan to continue with the videos with their goals set higher.
"We are just seeing where God takes us next," Hilly says.
One hope is to eventually become a success story transitioning from the Web to television.
"We would love to be picked up by a network," Hilly adds. "That has always been the goal. It's just finding the right network at the right time and praying they see our vision."
Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Follow @mjlyle on Twitter.
