I thought I would start a thread on my next feature film project, "The Dogfather." We just completed our first week of full pre-production. I am directing and editing this film.
This is my second outing as a feature director, except this time I have a substantial budget and a crew of about 50 people!!
Denis is not a member here I don't think, but I will encourage him to share his thoughts as we make our way through the production. Denis is a master DOP and I know this film will look just beautiful. We are shooting 35mm (of course) two Arri 535s, and one Arri 435 which I will use for slo-mo and some second unit work.
Our lead actor is Chris Parnell from SNL. Chris is a hilarious and talented actor and I can't wait to work with him on set, I know he will be bringing a lot to this movie.
What is The Dogfather all about? This movie is about a British bulldog named Sonny who is owned by a mafia don. One day Sonny swallows the don's family ring and then runs away. The don sends two of his best men to track down Sonny and retrieve the ring. Mean while Sonny gets himself adopted to a family in a small town and turns the dad's (Chris Parnell) life up-side-down. The family has no idea who Sonny's real owner is, nor do they know that the mafia is trying to find Sonny. Any way it's a funny family G-rated comedy, written by Russell Scalise and Michael H Wright.
I believe this is the first time a bulldog has been used in the lead role of a "dog film." Our head trainer is Bonnie Judd, a legend in the world of dog trainers
Essentially we have established sort of a dream team of artists and technicians for this film, so I have high expectations for a positive result.
I just finished two full days of casting in Toronto. I am pleased to report that we have a huge talent pool here to choose from, so many talented actors came in.
The major thing I did not anticipate directing a movie this big is the incredible work load on the director, I really under estimated that. I get an e-mail every 10 seconds and a phone call every minute. There are endless questions from dept heads to answer and a million details for me to over see. It will only intensify as we get closer to full production. Wow! It's a lot of work, 16-18 hour days are normal for me right now.
At least this time I have a UPM for crewing and a 1st AD for scheduling etc.
So the hours are long, but it's fun. We are all here because we love the industry.
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