Welcome To Hollywood

Adam Rifkin has decided that his next project is going to be a documentary following an actor from his first audition to fame and greatness. At auditions, one actor stands out, David Lake, unfortunately he lands a big role almost immediately and backs down. So Adam is forced to go with his second choice Nick Decker. Together they try to kickstart Decker's career, producing some publicity stills (which unfortunately have a slight error on them) and getting the normal entourage of agents, manager and publicist. Decker lands a small speaking part on Baywatch, but just as he is about to embark on his first step to stardom he is scuppered by a stingray.

Other auditions don't go too well while David Lake is fast becoming the next big thing. So Decker and Rifkin hit open the simple idea of becoming famous by association; having Decker appear at big events with a celebrity girlfriend. So, calling in a personal favour, Adam asks Angie Everhart to fill this role. Together Decker and Everhart appear at all the big festivals and premieres. Unfortunately, his career still isn't getting anywhere and Adam ditches the project to start on a new film. Increasingly desperate, Decker makes one last attempt to break into the big time.

Welcome To Hollywood is an often amusing tale of fame and how to get your 15 minutes. What makes it even more funny is knowing that, with the exception of the two directors who both appear in the film (Adam Rifkin as himself and Tony Markes playing Nick Decker), David Lake and the director of photography, no one else knew what was happening. Even Angie Everhart didn't really know what was going on (which had interesting implications on her own life - she was going out at the time and naturally the press got a little confused). And when Rifkin had to go off and start on the "new project", it was because he really did have to start on that project in real life.

As a piece of filmmaking, this shows what can be done with a low budget, imagination and balls. As a film, Welcome To Hollywood is an amusing look at the price of fame in Hollywood, without ever mocking the people it features.