HollyShorts - Grill Dog
Collin (13) and Keith (7) run away from their family vacation resort in search of a ‘titty waterfall,’ but when they accidentally maim someone’s pet dog, they have to confront life, death and their own sibling rivalry. Also, there are dick jokes.
Interview with Director Corey Aumiller
Watch Grill Dog here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
GRILL DOG begins as a screwball buddy comedy and ends as a morally ambiguous coming-of-age tale. The story came out of a difficult personal experience. While traveling the Atacama desert with my wife, we came across a dying dog that had been hit by a car. We were faced with a choice -- do something brutal to help the animal, or walk away and let it suffer. That experience really changed me as a human being and I knew that I needed to bring that personal trauma to the screen.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
There is something for everyone in GRILL DOG -- cussing kids, adorable animals, beautiful vistas, sibling rivalry, action, adventure, suffering, loss, you name it. You’ll laugh and you’ll cry. You’ll feel all the feelings.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Good storytelling is about finding an incredibly small, specific detail and expanding it into a universally relatable story. At its heart, GRILL DOG is about a kid who has to give up on his preconceived notions of adulthood witness something that will profoundly change him. We all had a moment in our lives where our lens shifted from blissful child to cognizant adult. It sucked. It was hard. It hurt. This movie asks its audience to go through all of those emotions.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The seminal moment stayed the same in every draft. The circumstances of how and why the characters got into the situation morphed over time. One of the main things we tried to do in development was strip the story down so it felt like a moment in time -- too many short films try to smash the plot arc of a feature into 15 minutes. We didn’t want to make a smeature.
Of course, a lot transformed in the edit. We had a dog, a seven year old and a twelve year old walking around in the heat of the desert, which meant some story beats were lost because the dog wouldn’t cooperate, or one of the actors would do some new zany behavior in every take.
The editor, Salvador Perez Garcia is really the silent but deadly force that makes this film work -- he took hours of nearly unusable footage and shaped it into something coherent, smart and sophisticated. He’s a freaking mad scientist with AVID. I don’t know any other human who is as patient and creative in the edit bay. He tricks you into thinking “this was an easy and fun flick to make.” Fun, yes. Easy, no. Regarding our canine star, the DP, Benji Dell kept remarking, “I mean, wow, how did they make FLIPPER?”
What type of feedback have you received so far?
There is violence involving an animal in our film. Our development mentors at AFI kept asking us, “why do you want to make your audience walk out of the theatre?” But showing that moment was always the intention. It had to be on screen.
I’ve watched a lot of audiences and I will tell you that folks laugh and enjoy the film until that tone shift comes, then they get really tense. I’ve seen a lot of tears. No one has ever walked out, and no one has come up afterwards and told me that I did the wrong thing with that scene. They all understand it, and they feel it. It’s been really rewarding to touch people’s raw emotions that way.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It has reinforced my belief that audiences want to be entertained but they also want to be challenged. That said, I’ve had a lot of folks (mostly mothers) tell me that they didn’t think all the foul language was believable. “Kids don’t talk that way,” they tell me. I’ve taught high school students, and I can say without a doubt, yes. Yes they do.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Our team is inspired by the mission of your site, which aims to attract diverse audiences and give filmmakers a platform to reach people. The best way to see this (or any movie) is on the big screen, but as storytellers, we ultimately just want to get folks to watch the film!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
The film wasn’t made as “proof-of-concept,” but it certainly does showcase our team’s potential to tug at people’s heartstrings and engage them in a short period of time. If there are producers looking to make meaningful, provocative and entertaining pictures, then by all means, knock down our door! There is definitely a feature version of GRILL DOG kicking around, along with a handful of other great stories.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I want my work to provoke questions and conversation. I’m asking for 17 minutes of your life, and in return I hope I give you something to chew on for at least that long afterwards.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What does empathy look like? What is manhood? What does coming-of-age even mean, anyway?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are all over the place! The amazing editor, Salvador Perez Garcia is working on a feature film project with director Karen Moncrieff (The Dead Girl, Blue Car), the short film Cuddle Buddy with director Max Barbakow (The Duke) and is attached to edit the feature Hala in September. He just cut my (Corey Aumiller) most recent film, MEAT BEATERS and he is attached to my next project, MOMMA.
Our DP Benjamin Dell is working on some shorts and a feature. Daniel Leighton has produced a number of shorts and continues to develop more. He’s also worked on a feature film and is developing a feature.
The actors are working all the time.
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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GRILL DOG
Collin (13) and Keith (7) run away from their family vacation resort in search of a ‘titty waterfall,’ but when they accidentally maim someone’s pet dog, they have to confront life, death and their own sibling rivalry. Also, there are dick jokes.
Length: 17 Minutes
Director: Corey Aumiller
Producer: Daniel Leighton
Writer: Corey Aumiller + Andy Siara
About the writer, director and producer: (25 words each)
Key cast: Britain Dalton, Toby Grey
Looking for producers, film festival directors, journalists.
Funders: Crowd funded
Made in association with: American Film Institute
Release date: March 2016
Where can I watch it in the next month? HollyShorts Film Festival, Burbank International Film Festival, and hopefully online soon after that!