We first took the idea to the festival's main partners, Prague Pride and Vodafone, who loved it; the dating app Taimi joined forces later. In under 12 hours their sponsorship had tripled our initial budget, exactly what the new approach needed as production costs soared. With Pride on board, the whole city along the parade route was open to us. We had two days to bring it to life: two stages for a surprise performance, mobile units and security teams along the route, all on foot, with the streets shut down.

Then, we prayed for good weather. A storm had hit Prague the day before and the forecast was a coin toss. True to my no-fear, no-glory approach, we bet on the sun, and got a perfect summer dayglow.

Most of the plan had to be improvised on set. We moved through a euphoric crowd of 60,000, and a Pride crowd is like no other, while weaving in a product-placement scene and two live performances on stages 4 km apart. That is where I do my best work. I thrive under pressure: moving the crew, staging each scene and drawing natural performances while already planning the next, and keeping LP safe and happy throughout. As creative lead, producer and director, the whole project rests on you, and sometimes you have to take risks. This one paid off. LP herself was fighting a fever and a raw throat in the scorching summer heat, and never complained once. A true soldier, positive and generous all day, she went beyond everything we hoped for. When she walked on stage unannounced, the crowd and the press went into a frenzy. The shoot made national news that day, and the film has passed 4.3 million views. One for the books.