The FP


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.
Jason Trost conceived The FP when he was 16, and developed it into a short film starring himself, Valmassy, Principe, DeBello, Brandon Barrera, Diane Gaeta, Kris Lemche and Torry Haynes in 2007. After seeing the finished film, Barrera suggested that Trost make a feature-length version. In the expanded production, Gaeta, Lemche, and Haynes were replaced with Folley, Hsu, and Bryan Goddard, respectively. Principal photography took place in Frazier Park, California in September 2008. Ron TrostBrandon and Jason Trost's fatherserved as special effects supervisor and executive producer of the film, and his property was the primary filming location.
The full-length version of The FP premiered at South by Southwest on, 2011, and received positive reviews. After its screening at the Fantasia Festival on that year, Drafthouse Films acquired the film for distribution. It had a limited release in 28 American theaters, beginning on, 2012, and was released on home media on, 2012. The theatrical release received mixed reviews and failed to recoup its production budget of, grossing $40,557 in the United States. A sequel, FP2: Beats of Rage, was released in September 2018.

Plot

In a dystopian future, rival gangs the 245 and the 248 fight for control of Frazier Park by challenging each other in Beat-Beat Revelation, a dance-fight video game. L Dubba E, the leader of the 245 gang, battles and defeats BTRO, the leader of the 248 gang. BTRO dies as a result. His younger brother JTRO is traumatized and leaves the FP.
One year later, BTRO's best friend KCDC finds JTRO working as a lumberjack. KCDC convinces JTRO that the FP needs him because L Dubba E has taken control of the local alcohol industry and is refusing to sell alcoholic drinks to everyone. The lack of alcohol has led to an increase in methamphetamine addicts, a decrease in homeless people and, consequently, ducks. Reluctantly, JTRO returns with KCDC; he meets BLT and reunites with Stacy, an old friend. JTRO and Stacy are interrupted by L Dubba Enow Stacy's boyfriendwho is picking her up to go to a party. JTRO goes to the same party and Stacy drunkenly flirts with him. L Dubba E taunts JTRO then hits him with a baseball bat, rendering him unconscious. JTRO dreams that BTRO tells him to fight back, pushing him to challenge L Dubba E. L Dubba E declines, saying that JTRO lacks sufficient "street cred". L Dubba E demands that JTRO defeat Triple Decka 1K before he will accept JTRO's challenge.
JTRO begins a grueling training regime with BLT to regain his former level of skill. Before his match with Triple Decka 1K, BLT gives BTRO's boots to JTRO. At the match venue, JTRO is tricked into drinking alcohol tainted with methamphetamine. Despite his drug-induced visual impairment, JTRO defeats Triple Decka 1K before vomiting and passing out.
KCDC wakes JTRO, having taken him to the 248 headquarters. After JTRO's recovery, BLT takes him and KCDC shooting; they decide to take guns to JTRO's match against L Dubba E. Stacy tells JTRO that her relationship with L Dubba E began when he spiked her drink with turpentine and raped her. She continued the relationship so she could supply her father with beer to prevent him from turning to drugs. One day, JTRO hears Stacy's father assaulting her and intervenes. After a brief fight with him, JTRO persuades Stacy to leave. Immediately after their departure, L Dubba E arrives and says that he has been cheating on Stacy. Stacy decides to stay with him, which angers JTRO and causes him to end their friendship.
Later the same day, Stacy, who has been badly beaten, finds JTRO and tells him that she has ended her relationship with L Dubba E. She apologizes, and they kiss. Meanwhile, L Dubba E tells his gang members to also take guns to the final match. At the venue, JTRO wears BTRO's outfit and L Dubba E taunts him. When the match begins, L Dubba E defeats JTRO in the first round but JTRO perseveres and wins the second and third rounds. L Dubba E tries to kill JTRO, triggering a lengthy gunfight between the 248 and the 245.
L Dubba E escapes the event and kidnaps Stacy. JTRO and KCDC pursue him while BLT remains at the venue. L Dubba E abruptly pulls into a gas station; JTRO follows and a fight ensues. JTRO gains the upper hand, beats L Dubba E into submission and forces him to leave the FP. Freedom to buy alcohol is restored and control of the FP is returned to the 248. JTRO and Stacy go to the pond together as ducks fly over them.

Cast

  • Jason Trost as JTRO, a member of the 248 gang who sets out to defeat L Dubba E. Trost wrote JTRO as the straight man and compared him to Rocky Balboa and John Rambo.
  • Lee Valmassy as L Dubba E, the leader of the 245, a rival gang to the 248. Jason Trost said the character is similar to Mr. T and that Valmassy was "so embarrassed ... when he first he almost didn't want to talk to me again". Valmassy also appears several times as a background extra.
  • Caitlyn Folley as Stacy, L Dubba E's girlfriend and JTRO's old friend.
  • Art Hsu as KCDC, an energetic member of the 248 and BTRO's best friend who serves as the emcee for the Beat-Beat Revelation matches. The directors said Hsu needed little direction because he played his character well. Hsu described KCDC as "the sidekick" and "the guy who ... guides people through the FP". The Trosts originally wrote the character to be more bipolar and feminine but they decided to reduce those elements for the final draft.
  • Nick Principe as BLT, an abrasive member of the 248 and JTRO's trainer. Jason met Principe during the production of Laid to Rest, on which he worked as a costume assistant and as Principe's body double.
  • Dov Tiefenbach as Triple Decka 1K, a Russian Beat-Beat Revelation player who faces JTRO. Tiefenbach engaged in method acting by maintaining his Russian accent on- and off-set throughout filming.
  • James DeBello as Beat Box Busta Bill, a member of the 245 and one of L Dubba E's henchmen.
  • Bryan Goddard as Sugga Nigga, a member of the 245 and one of L Dubba E's henchmen.
  • Brandon Barrera as BTRO, JTRO's brother and the leader of the 248. Barrera appears as an extra in several scenes.
Additional cast members include Mike Sandow as Jody, Rachel Robinson as Lacy, Natalie Minx as Macy, Sean Whalen as Stacy's father, and Clifton Collins, Jr. as CC Jam. Blayne Weaver makes a cameo appearance as the owner of a gas station KCDC robs, while James Remar narrates the film's prelude. Dash Mihok played a small role in the cut of the film shown at South by Southwest, but his scenes were removed from the theatrical release. Producer Christian Agypt, first assistant director Christopher Holmes, costume designer Sarah Trost, Valmassy's younger brother Kyle, and several of the Trosts' friends appear as background extras. Brandon Trost voices a collect call operator.

Crew

  • Jason Trost – director, screenwriter, story writer
  • Brandon Trost – director, screenwriter, cinematographer
  • Christian Agypt – producer, unit production manager
  • Brandon Barrera – producer
  • Jason Blum – executive producer
  • Steven Schneider – executive producer
  • Ron Trost – executive producer, special effects coordinator
  • Hal Tryon – executive producer
  • Tyler B. Robinson – production designer
  • Sarah Trost – costume designer
  • Abe Levy – editor
  • George Holdcroft – composer

    Production

Development and writing

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. The short film was based on the original feature-length script, but only the first ten pages were filmed. The feature film recreated several shots from the short film. Trost said the feature film was inspired by what they imagined a Dance Dance Revolution film made by producer Jerry Bruckheimer would look like.
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. Over 80 percent of the dialogue was based on phrases frequently spoken by several Frazier Park residents. Much of the profanity in the script was taken from conversations overheard by costume designer Sarah Trost at parties, and what the Trost brothers thought of on set. Further inspiration for the dialogue came from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Def Jam: Fight for NY, both of which Jason Trost played alongside Dance Dance Revolution.
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. The characters' actual causes of death are unexplained in the film. The Trost brothers found depicting the deaths as ambiguous funnier and believed it would remove doubts about the film being a comedy.