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The saying goes, “When you know, you know” and co-founder of Fresno-based Tremendum Pictures Chris Lofing knew he had found “the one” and had to make his proposal Blockbuster worthy – enlisting help from some Hollywood superheroes, KTLA sister station KSEE/KGPE reports.
Friday, June 23 would become a day that Chris, co-founder, writer, director, and producer at Tremendum Pictures, and his now fiancée, Andrea Barrón, would never forget.
Inside Maya Cinemas at Fresno’s Campus Pointe, Chris packed the room with 100 of his closest friends and family, sneaking in Andrea (or Andy for short) as the lights dimmed for what everyone thought was going to be a screening of “The Flash” – but there was something even bigger coming first.
One of the previews ahead of the movie was custom-made for the big question.
“We had shot this video in early June and it was a really tight window to complete this because we are filmmakers and we are juggling some other movies right now. We shot it in like three hours, and the part I was most stressed about was getting the video of her dad, which is the little hologram I’m talking to. And her brother, in Mexico, without her knowing about any of it, he sent it to me like the day before I needed to finish it,” Chris laughed as he shared how the trailer plan unfolded.
With a tight deadline to complete the movie trailer before “The Flash” screening, Chris says the biggest piece was ensuring her dad was included in the proposal.
Chris added Andy’s father into the trailer (as you can see in the picture below) as a hologram. Chris asked him if the “request had been approved” and her father responds, “your request has been approved.”
Chris revealed that the actual sound designer of the movie “The Flash” worked on the video for him and did the sound design.
“He’s a good friend and when I told him about this he said “hey, can I do this for you?” and I was like “Yes, please!” So that was super cool and made it sound like a real movie in the theater so everyone genuinely just thought the movie was starting,” said Chris.
Lofing met his future bride in February through a dating app. Andrea is from Mexico and Chris says meeting her family was important to him.
“We matched, we just started talking, and everything seemed to be going in the right direction so I went down to Mexico to meet her family and that was awesome so after that trip I was like “ok, I think this is going to be a forever type of thing,” said Lofing.
Chris says after that trip, he was putting the wheels into motion for the next steps in their relationship.
“The next time I went to Mexico, which was in May, I had a letter prepared. Her parents don’t speak a whole lot of English and I wanted to ask her parents for permission, but I wanted to do it in Spanish so I had someone here in Fresno actually translate that for me,” said Lofing.
With her father’s blessing, Chris was ready to carry out his plan for the proposal.
“The most nerve-racking thing was the event itself. It was a live event, anything can happen, and anything can go wrong with something like this,” Chris said on planning out the movie trailer.
Getting the crowd organized inside the movie theatre was another tricky part of the marriage proposal plan.
“They didn’t have the showtimes posted yet for the movie. I needed to invite my hundred-plus people and tell them what show it was because I didn’t have a specific time yet. They knew approximately it was going down at this time, but they didn’t know what time and what show and they still didn’t have it posted when she was already here with me in town, so I was like ‘How am I going to text 100 people?’ Luckily she was tired from travel and laid down to take a nap and then the showtimes were posted so I spent the next three hours texting everyone,” Chris said.
Even though their love story happened quickly, Chris says he knew Andy was the one when he saw her in her “Sunday best” and when they went to church together for the first time.
“I had a really strong feeling the first time I went out to Mexico, I was already feeling pretty good about it. But I think it was honestly, anyone out there who is reading this, who is spiritual in any way can relate when I saw her in her “Sunday best” and when we went to church together for the first time that was deeply moving and deeply spiritual and I was like “yep, this is it, this is a fit,” said Chris.
Chris added that he and Andy are both big movie fans and that it was another reason why he proposed the way he did with a movie, saying Andy and her entire family love movies and love going to the movies.
“Honestly, again as a filmmaker, I think even years ago before I ever met Andy I always thought about doing something like this, didn’t know exactly what but I always wanted to do something involving movies, and to see it happen and see it happen almost exactly the way I wanted to was awesome, it was really cool,” says Chris.
The Hero Alliance helped provide the costume for Chris’s proposal movie with the use of “The Flash” costume. Chris also had a Captain America costume on hand too and knew it would be the perfect combination for the ultimate marriage proposal.
“I already had the Captain American costume and that also played into the timing of things because I didn’t have a lot of time. Flash was coming out, and I knew she was going to be here, I’m like ok that’s the big that’s going to be released, we could go see that, and it was just figuring out a way to blend the two,” says Chris.
Chris says they are targeting a fall wedding in Mexico so Andy’s family could be part of it and then potentially come back to Fresno and have a reception with friends and family.
Chris and his business partner, Travis Cluff, independently co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced the micro-budget horror film, The Gallows and The Gallows Act II, which was released in theaters worldwide on July 10, 2015, and grossed over $42 million at the box office. Chris says their newest film, “Drive Back”, is currently in production.
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