Nemo, a well-known local golden retriever and therapy dog, has been named one of 30 finalists out of more than 4,000 video audition submissions for an upcoming Air Bud project. The announcement was made by AirBud on social media, which is how Nemo's owner, Bridget Hilburn, found out about the good news.
Bridget, who is part of the ECU McNair Scholars Program, was initially worried they would miss the deadline to submit an audition video. 'I thought we had until the end of the month to submit a video,' she said, 'so I had already drafted a script and started preparing.' A friend alerted her on Thursday, August 21, that casting would close at midnight on Friday, August 22. 'I had no idea!' she stated.
In a scramble to submit in time, Bridget 'rushed home early from work, grabbed Nemo, and filmed outdoor scenes at Boggy Depot Park.' The next morning, she took time off to film the basketball-related scenes in Ada. She gives 'Huge thanks to Vickie Reifsnider (ECU Theater) for connecting me with Shelby Davis, who jumped in last minute to help us film. I can’t thank them enough for saving the day!'
