Ambitious TV show host Kevin Crondale offers help to local businesses to find the success they deserve using absurd out-of-the-box methods. This episode, he seeks to help a neighborhood bakery, Auntie Mama’s Cookie Shop, using a Matt Damon lookalike and innovative new cookie recipe.

What I would most like to give the audience with Crondale Cares is a chance to have a good laugh. The world can be such a crazy, uncertain place right now, so I hope my film can provide a break from it all, giving people a place where they can relax and have some fun. I would also like to encourage people to support the real local businesses that surround them. While most don’t use methods as absurd as the ones shown here, smaller businesses put a lot of hard work and effort into their crafts, and it’s always great to show them some love! (I would, of course, recommend visiting the real Auntie Mama’s Cookie Shop, Golden Crown Panaderia!)

Our first day of shooting was definitely memorable. We arranged for a majority of our outdoor filming to be on our first day, two scenes at the public park and in front of a gas station, not anticipating the fact that it would be freezing and raining the whole morning. Despite this, we ended up having a great time, everyone got along great and worked together very well! Our two days shooting at Golden Crown were also very memorable. The owners allowed us to come in on the days they were usually closed to the public, and gave us unlimited access to their beautiful location. There were one scene we filmed in the kitchen with my three main actors reacting to the cookie we’d created, and it ended up taking a while to finish, not only because we had a few different shots planned, but because everyone was giving such good performances, we were hardly able to stop laughing.

Opportunities like this are incredibly important to aspiring filmmakers, as for many students, this can be the first time a career in film feels tangible. Film Prize Jr. provides so many amazing resources and professionals in the industry to support us filmmakers, and it helps to make something that was once a dream a reality.