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Snow White Series Shoots At Skidmore

North Broadway in Saratoga Springs has been turned into the set of a new fairy tale TV show. A series based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Snow-White and Rose-Red” is being produced by a team of local actors and crew members and is scheduled to be released this December on Amazon Prime.

“Standing by…and action!”

“My ring!”

In the Alumni Memorial Garden at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, Snow-White and her sister Rose-Red are helping Rapunzel and a wizard settle an argument over a stolen ring.

Rapunzel tried to steal the wizard’s ring to sell in order to help her family.

In the end, Rapunzel gets to keep the ring in exchange for giving some of her long, blue hair to cover the wizard’s bald head.

The scene is part of a new TV series called “The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red.” The sisters are played two teenagers from Colonie.

“My name is Callista Zorbas.”

“I’m Demetra Zorbas.”

“And we’re real sisters and we play sisters in the show,” said Callista.

Blonde 17-year-old Callista plays Snow White and 14-year-old red-haired Demetra plays her sister, Rose Red.  It’s their third day of shooting. The whole series will be shot between now and the end of the month.

“Yesterday was really warm, but it’s good! we’re getting our vitamin D.”

The sisters finish each other’s sentences. Both are home-schooled and are not new to acting.

“I’ve been acting my entire life,” said Callista. “I was in plays when I was little and then I got into a short film here at Skidmore. And that’s where I met Nicole. And I found out she was doing a TV show so I auditioned for Rose and Snow. It’s been so exciting and a blast.”

“I’ve been in plays, I’ve been an extra my whole life,” said Demetra.

“I got her into acting,” adds Callista.

“This is the one big thing, yeah,” laughs Demetra.

All of the actors in the show hail from the greater Capital Region.

The sisters were referring to series creator Nicole Coady, a resident of Ballston Spa. The series is the first production of her company Trident Fantasy Films.

“So I really wanted to create something that I felt like parents would be really happy about their kids watching, that kids would love and enjoy,” says Coady.

Coady also hopes the show will inspire kids and adults to pick up the original Grimm stories they may not be familiar with. 

After moving to the Capital Region a decade ago following a career in Hollywood, Coady says writing and producing the series herself is an opportunity not usually offered to those working in the industry in L.A.

“So this is something I feel like I can be 100 percent proud of. Good or bad, it’s us. You can blame us. If it’s terrible, it’s us. If it’s great, it’s us. So that’s a nice feeling.”

Coady is partnering with fellow executive producers Katie and Andrew Balog.

Andrew Balog, who lives in Ballston Lake, was able to secure the distribution deal for the series with Amazon. In addition to being a co-founder of Trident, he also is a founder of his own company, Logs Leisure Entertainment. The companies are partnering to release the series.

Balog recently opened a studio for Logs Leisure in Burnt Hills and he expects more projects to come. So do state lawmakers, who last year expanded a state tax credit for film and television productions in New York.

“It’s been fantastic. We’re growing fast. So you’re going to be seeing a lot more stuff coming out of upstate New York through my studio. It’s exciting,” says Balong.

“The Adventures of Snow White and Rose Red” will release directly on Amazon Prime in early 2018.

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.
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