“Falstaff V. The Crown” is a work by the short lived, but categorically broad, genre-bending production group, Slop Shop Productions. It was made for the Montana chapter of the 48 Hour Film Project, which is an annual event where filmmakers have one weekend to create a movie from scratch with prompts given. 

During the random drawing on the first night of the project, Slop Shop Productions ended up with the genre of fantasy. From there, every group was given the same character of Jerri Falstaff the chef, the same prop of antlers, and the same line of dialogue “nope, I’m out.”

Director Chris Shields had participated in the 48 Hour Film Competition three times before both on a state level and an international level, but this was his first time directing one himself. It was also his first time not serving as the editor of the project, but his second time serving as the cinematographer. 

Though fantasy was one of the genres the team hoped not to receive, the script that writers Anya Wells, Christina Phillips, Hesford, and Howell wrote was a fantasy legal drama about wizard court. This way they could execute a fantasy world with realistic parameters that could be achieved in 48 hours.