The Film Element
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The Film Element
Interview: Jay Reid
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I interview filmmaker Jay Reid as we chat about his horror film "Sick Puppy" which I had the pleasure of editing for him 2 years ago.
Everyone, welcome to the Film Element Podcast. I'm your host, Mike Glant, and today I'm going to be interviewing a fellow filmmaker, Jay Reed, who is responsible for the new horror thriller called Sick Puppy, which I was fortunate enough to be involved with as uh an editor, sort of an editor that came in after the process. So I'm gonna bring Jay in right now. Jay, how are you? Hey Mike, how's it going? Good, good. Thanks for taking the time to uh chat with me today. And you know, I was I wanted to have you on because well, it's kind of funny for me. I go through a weird experience with this podcast because people have now started to not a lot of people, but a few people here and there have told me like, oh, maybe you should like talk about this or you should interview this guy or over here. And it's kind of weird because I'm always in a weird position because I'm like, I only want to do this with and I want to do interviews with people that I want to do interviews with. Like there's no I don't have any mandate to do this. Um but I just thought you were you would be a great person to chat with because you know I was brought in as an editor on this film, which is called Sick Puppy, which you you wrote and directed, correct?
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so um I was brought in and I really enjoyed the project, or at the very least, I enjoyed the process of working on the project. I think the film is works really, really well on a lot of different levels. It's really twisted and demented in a lot of ways, and as I'm sure you are discovering, there's an audience out there for that. Uh and I and I enjoyed a lot of that, a lot of those aspects of the film. Um, so I just you know, we'll we'll have a little chat here. I just want to ask you from the very beginning, like, how did you get started in film and how did you end up making Sick Puppy?
SPEAKER_00Uh well, you know, I I think the first thing I ever did as relates to film, aside from like stuff in like high school, um, was um I wrote uh scripts at the end of my high school experience uh for the my writing class. And it uh it was my first script ever, and it was a horror script. Um sort of had a David Lynch vibe to it. I was big into uh Twin Peaks Firewalk with me at that time, and it was um, you know, it was like super long, of course. Like you're like people don't realize that scripts are like way shorter these days. Um but back then you can just kind of maybe not get away with it, but it it was okay to write like a 140-page script. Now obviously that's not a not the case.
SPEAKER_02But uh I don't think you could have ever gotten away with a 140-page script.
SPEAKER_00No, the guy wrote the guy who wrote Heathers, that script was like 200 something pages, and that was I mean, obviously the movie's much shorter, but like they used to turn in these things, and then people would be like, Oh, uh yeah, sure, we'll we'll we'll shoot part of it. Like it's pretty much like now they're just like we don't have time for that.
SPEAKER_02So they're like, we don't even have time to read all of that, let alone shoot it.
SPEAKER_00No, exactly, they don't even have time for like 90 pages, so I'm like handing this thing into my teacher, and then she gave me a really great um grade on it, despite the fact that it was actually quite um violent and had a lot of sex in it. Uh, because you know, I'd watched a lot of you know horror films growing up, and uh, you know, they tend to have that stuff. So she's like, and I I was a little screwed up too.
SPEAKER_02Let's let's not lie.
SPEAKER_00Well, well, she's you know, if I had submitted it now, they would have put me in like they would have had to call like people in.
SPEAKER_02Which is funny to think because you were a teenager when you handed that in. So it's like yeah, it's like when you're a teenager, it's fine, no problem. This is cool, yeah. But as an adult who has an awareness of like artistic merit, then you're a problem. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I'm just like, I I handed in to uh her and she she really, really liked it, but she's like, you know, if I didn't know you so well, no, you're sweet, nice guy, uh, I I would have been quite disturbed by this.
SPEAKER_02So but she's like She's like, are you a school shooter by any chance?
SPEAKER_00I feel obliged to ask. Yeah, because it's like it was actually during sort of that time. I think like Columbine was only like a few years before, so people were a little on edge at that time. So I was very surprised that uh there wasn't some sort of issue, but it was kind of at that time last time where you can kind of be like, eh, the kids a little screwed up, right? You know, but um yeah, so uh after that, like you know, it kind of gave me a little bit of a confidence boost, and I applied to uh film school in Montreal, and uh I didn't get into the production program, but I got into the film studies program, and uh from there I just watched a lot of film, you know. I got to understand film a lot better from more of a theoretical standpoint, and I I made stuff on the sides, uh, you know, like just short films. Um, you know, I I did a little summer at USC and uh I just made films there. And over the you know, course of the time, I I kind of went through periods where I almost like sort of gave up on it. I actually became a journalist for a while.
SPEAKER_02Oh wow. I didn't know that about you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, not not not a very long time. I was like a freelance journalist. I never worked for a paper or anything, but I'd write for like the Gazette, and then there's a indigenous newspaper in Montreal, so I I wrote for occasionally. Um and you know, at that point, while I was in journalism school, I met a guy who's an actor, and he's like, let's do something together, because you know, we both love film, and so we did something together, and it kind of got me back onto it, and uh I just continued working in film ever since, and then I kept making short films. I got you know awards for uh you know screen uh screenwriting from uh like the Quebec government and oh wow. Eventually, like uh, you know, like my short film got into the telefilm not short on talent, and after that I was just like, well, you know, I kind of want to just I've always wanted to do features, and nobody, you know, during that time I kept sending scripts out, nobody would want to make anything, you know, because it was either too weird or um you know they didn't know me, they didn't trust me, which is understandable. Uh so what uh you know, my uh one of my like good friends is also a director of photography. We'd worked on multiple projects together, JP, who shot uh Sick Puppy with me. Uh we got together and we said, hey, like what what kind of money can we earn from our regular jobs, put a little bit in, and then we can go out and try and find the rest, and and that's kind of how it went. And we managed to get like great actors for this because you know we made the I wanted to make like the script like you know, a good story. Yes, an interesting story for people. Even if it has like elements that are a little shocking, it it should still be a good story. So that's that's how come we got like beginning on this project.
SPEAKER_02Well, and you know, I I this isn't a review podcast or like this episode isn't a review. Like I always I always like to approach uh talking about these films from sort of the business side outside in. And uh what I like thinking about now, especially with Sick Puppy specifically, you know, there's and you and I have talked about this on WhatsApp, is that now obsession, I would say very specifically, is this humongous generational runaway hit, right? That came out about a month ago or a month and a half ago. And uh to me, there are two core things that I think uh made that movie interesting and be successful. And I think a puppy has the uh these are two core principles as well. A, I actually I'll I'll bleed into almost three. And three is a little more like uh lowest common denominator, but I'll get to that one last. I think first the lead actors, the male and female, like it's about a relationship similar, exactly very similar to how Obsession was. And those two actors in that movie are so much fun to watch. Obviously, everyone's talking about Indy, and she hopefully is gonna get an Oscar nomination, maybe even win, who knows? And I feel the same way about Natasha and John, who are the lead actors of Sick Puppy. I think they're so incredibly fun to watch and engaging. And then you got and then the second thing is that you have this great hook. You know, you have this um I've heard you talk about this is sort of very, very like not base at all, but sort of uh, you know, loosely inspired by Paul Bernardo and Carla Homoka and other like Bonnie and Clyde type of serial killer relationships out there. But what you do is put this fun uh spin on it, which is weird to say because there are some very, very disturbing scenes in the film. And you and I even talked about this when I when I was editing it. Like there's some stuff I'm like, oh I'm like, do we have to show it? Do we have to do that? And obviously at the end of the day, it's your vision, and I understand. And you know, I I that's just my own personal take, but I understand a lot of people A can stomach it and B are kind of there to see people push the limits, right? Kind of uh exactly uh the way Obsession did as well. And I thought Obsession had this really great addictive hook to it, where you know it's the monkey paw whole thing. And that's what I think Sick Puppy and like I said, lowest com denominator baseline, as a dude, you know, I'll just speak on that. Number three, you have a very attractive cast, and you know I Yeah, no, I've been told that by even our distributor that uh yeah, that was I mean Natasha, I mean they're both incredibly good looking, John and Natasha, and they work together and they have this really great chemistry. So I think that as an editor, just watching them, it's like it just makes your job easier. There's no bad angle that I have to cut away from, you know what I mean? Like uh they just they just come alive on the screen. And obviously, going back to obsession, I also think that was a key to obsession success is that we just have this incredible uh new face that we've never seen, and uh the guy in it as well, you know. So I think Yeah, he is fantastic. Yeah, and I think people underestimate the power of that sometimes. Like everyone tries to be too high-minded about it, and then when they when they aren't, they seem to see success from it. But I I think you have to the the characters have to look like that in Sick Puppy in order for it to really work, because you go with Natasha's character, you go, how can she possibly be into this guy this much? And then he looks the way he does, and then he takes off his shirt, and then I'm like, Well, I assume if you're a girl, you know, this guy's really easy to look at.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, but I actually never really uh uh you know tried to make you know Brett's Brett's character like uh super like bot. He just happened to be like that. Yeah. Like it was never like the the reason for like uh Natasha's character Charlie to be you know uh like that is actually because she was like a cheerleader and she took very good care of herself over the years and and it was like it was all character based, but it just so happens to work out quite well as far as like you know, people do like to see that. Uh yeah, I think especially when you're dealing with like really awful, awful characters uh sometimes like it's it's a little bit easier to stomach.
SPEAKER_02Um well what it does, in my opinion, is that it sells you on the dream of how they ended up in that position, you know. Uh I believe because of how good looking John is, then I can kind of understand more why Natasha was so into him, right? It's like if John was like a five and Natasha and he still cast Natasha, the imbalance of that would just be harder to stomach and get over. But casting is storytelling. You know, and I can say that as a filmmaker, and that's something that people don't think about very often, is that just by casting someone that has a certain look or looks a certain way or just carries themselves a certain way, you are also telling part of the story and you are helping the audience get through um a bat a backstory that they don't even realize that they're learning just by who is doing it. You know what I mean? Like it's like it's like you can cast a guy as a cop and it's like, oh, he needs to do that, like we gotta just say how he got here, but then you can cast a guy who like delivers lines a certain way and looks a certain way, and you're like, I don't even need his backstory. I get who he is just by who how this actor uh is playing him and how he looks. So I think that was a key thing that you guys had for your casting. Um now I want to talk uh more about the business side of it. Like, I think that's how I like to approach it, uh especially during these interviews, because uh I think what you achieved here is pretty great. Uh uh A, because I think the film is great, but B, I think this sort of came out of thin air. And and I what I mean by that is that you had no real funding, like no telefil or grants or anything like that. It was like you guys said, you just sort of brought this money together. And can you sort of talk about how that ball got rolling and who you approached and how people said yes, and then you know, just sort of and give me the timeline of how that all worked out? Uh yeah. Uh well as much as you can or allowed or feel comfortable talking about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, no, no, I I I can just kind of break down sort of how this uh was kind of like the the funding pieces because I think that's probably more useful to somebody. Uh because everyone has different ways of uh you know getting money, you know. Some people have well, I don't know, rich uncles or something like that. I didn't have a rich uncle, but you know, like they have they have those sort of things, and they're able to find those. And uh for for us, the first money that got put in was our own. Like my myself and uh my director of photography, JP. Uh uh JP shoots like um short films, but he also shoots a lot of like ads, and he does like that type of work, so he had some money saved up. Same with me. I work in uh subtitling uh often and uh as well as uh dubbing, and so I just kind of put a little money away here and there trying to uh get it to be a decent amount, at least get us started. And so we did that, and then we kind of just like basically just like hat in hand and kind of crowdfunded it a little bit privately. We didn't do it publicly because um it was just easier and faster, and we didn't have to hire somebody for that. We just approached you know people on our own. And then uh Well, can you are you allowed to speak a little bit like who what type of people were you approaching?
SPEAKER_02Like who were was it other producers? Was it people completely disassociated from the industry?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, completely disassociated from the industry, just family, friends who like had seen like the our our work together over the years and and and put it, but like that got us, it didn't even get us to like finish you know principal photography, right? It got us to start principal photography.
SPEAKER_02And just out of curious, like what were you telling them? Like I I've gone down that road a little bit myself, but I'm always much more self-conscious about approaching anyone outside of like really, really immediate even I I approached like a friend once, and then they were gun ho, and then that project just fell apart for various reasons. No real, you know, obviously there's no animosity, but I'm like, I'm so gun shy to go down that road again. And I'm just curious, you you got over that hump, and what was sort of your pitch to these people?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think the they'd helped the the short that uh JP and I had done, uh, had done had gone to like telefilm not short on talent, and I'd gotten like you know, it did pretty well at the the genre festivals uh that we got into. It was during the pandemic, so it was a little more complicated. So um, but we had we had gotten into some pretty pretty good uh genre festivals. So I'd already had like the experience of like working in the genre space, and he he had his his own um equipment. He had uh he had the camera that we shot on, and I was able to kind of like pitch them like we have all these things that are kind of working for us, we have a story. Uh I I created a pitch deck, right? You know, pitch deck is a literally nobody's reading scripts, so you just do the pitch deck. Um and uh there's a visual style to it, you can see where I I reference movies that people understand, like Natural Born Killers or or something along those lines, and you just kind of have to get lucky, to be honest with you. It's it's it's a tough thing this, but you just kind of go around and you know uh get over the sort of shame of asking for money, and uh you know, knowing that you are and you the the most important thing you gotta tell them is that there's no guarantee you'll ever see your money again. Yeah, there's absolutely no guarantee. I can tell you these are the things that we're going to do to make sure we can get it back, but you know, again, the industry is so unpredictable, I can't like reasonably say you're gonna get your money back. I mean, I can say like because we did a you know, it's a pretty low budget still, that you there's a stronger possibility that you can, but it's gonna may take several years. Yes. So it's uh you know, it's it's just going to like those type of people, it's a little bit easier with like I would say family and or for friends because it's they're less thinking about it as an investment. Now from uh but we did have outside investors, but they came in after the film was done. Interesting. So when we were shooting, um we we we had enough money to kind of get through principal photography, but there's still like there was still a little bit left that was a little bit more complicated. Yeah. And we took advantage of the tax credit system uh to kind of uh help us get um money beforehand uh for the tax credits we um you know in advance on the tax credits, and we have to have you know those calculated out properly. You have to go through an accountant, you have to do all this stuff. But it we we luckily had some people, you know, a producer that was very, very familiar with that, and we were able to uh get that amount so that we can continue not lose momentum when uh you know principal after principal photography. As you know, some places you know they shoot the movie, and then it's just like, oh my god, you know, it's you know, they never know when you know editing is gonna start because there's no money. Yes, yes. So we were able to like we had a little bit of a delay, but uh it was like four months, and as you know, that was for other reasons, um, which I won't get into here. But uh, but yeah, the the um but it's definitely like that that was a part, and then also, you know, we we still needed even more money after that, uh as part of the post-production. Like that that covered some of it, and it also covered some extra production cost that we weren't expecting. But it was uh we we just went to outside investors, we had one of our producers just go, and what we did was we were able to at least that there we could just like edit the film together. Uh not the whole film, but just like certain scenes, like the fight scene, and then there's a couple other scenes that we we put together just to give them like a sort of pitch. It was like a rough, rough edit, red, rough edit, like I think our uh DIT guy did. And uh we did that, yeah. So like they just put it together. I I didn't even know what they were editing. I was like, I don't want to even look at it because it's not gonna be my edit, anyways. Just put something that you think they'll want, right? And so they they did that and By then we had uh we we'd got like a uh Canadian distributor which is uh Raven Banner. Yes. So that also helped.
SPEAKER_02So uh them Yeah, uh you you're jumping ahead a little bit, which is which is great. So I wanna I wanna slow down a little bit. Um so you guys film in two thousand what was it, twenty-four?
SPEAKER_00Twenty-three, it was like the end of twenty three.
SPEAKER_02It was like October, yeah, yeah. Well, I I guess I worked on it when I came on, it was 2024, right? Yeah, yeah. Wow, that was 10 years ago. Post period that is insane. The post period was long, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The post-period was super long, and then um, you know, we were very lucky. But yeah, we we we shot it in 2020, the end of like September, October of 2023.
SPEAKER_02It's funny, any filmmaker listening to this, just take that in, right? We're talking about this three years since they filmed it, yeah, and two years since I edited it. And now I think the film is finally finding the legs and the home that it needs. I think so. Let's talk about that a little bit. Like, we don't need to get into the long post-process because I don't think that's a whole lot of fun for anybody.
SPEAKER_00But um No, it was a very long post-process though.
SPEAKER_02And uh and you were so great to work with. Like, I was I came in, I wasn't starting from scratch. Some some scenes I did kind of do a page one rewrite on, but there was there was definitely enough there that like I could piece it together and I would just go through stuff and say, Oh, okay, like this is just too long, or these jots just aren't flowing. And I know like the edit points just aren't at the right point. It's like it's like don't do it halfway through the sentence, do it at the end of the sentence. Like just all these little flow things that I'm I'm aware of. And then obviously I had my opinions too of like, hey, I don't know if you need this, or like blah blah blah blah blah. And I forget how much I actually impacted any of that.
SPEAKER_00But um I you you cut out 20 minutes from the film, so yeah, I think you invite what's the running time of the film now? I think it's like uh I think it's like a hundred minutes or something.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it is okay. Yeah, wow, so it was 20 minutes longer than that.
SPEAKER_00I know it's uh well I always wanted it to be shorter. Like I I'm totally cool with like it being a lot shorter. Um I it could have been even shorter than that, but I think we were at that point pressed for time and we just had to kind of let it go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think um I think 100 minutes is okay. I think anything north of that starts to certainly pull a little a little bit. You know, I and there I've debated this with a lot of different people, and I'm having this really funny debate right now with a I'm working on uh the vampire film that I told you about. Um you know, it's like a few million dollar film. Uh really great script, uh top-notch actors, you know, people two Spielberg actors, funny enough. And uh cool. It's I'm trying to tell the director and the producers that I'm like I really want this to be shorter, and they're like, we are not going to do that. And I just it's such a weird process to me because I don't even know if I'm right about my approach in that, oh, I think this just should be shorter. I think there's certainly scenes that I'm seeing that I'm like, ah, we don't need that, we don't need that, I'd rather get to this quicker, I'd rather, you know. Um, but I think that's also how my mind works is that I'm just always I just want to get in and out, uh, especially when we're doing uh uh low cost indie. And I think especially with your project and a lot of projects that I've worked on in similar budget and scope, um I'm always like, listen, we cannot overstay our welcome. Um as good as we think the film is, let's try and they'll like us even more if we don't overstay our welcome. No you know when no one to play them and no one to fold them or whatever that uh saying is. So uh yeah, so that was important to me to get the time down. I have no idea what I cut out and how I did that. Like I said, now I realize it's been two years and you know, I was even in the editing room for that. Um but tell me more about so the film is done and it's I don't know at what point you guys colored and mixed it. Obviously, you had a composer come into the music. So that process, talk about that process, and then talk about what happened after. Was it were you submitting the film festivals, and then obviously you got into Fright Fest. So was that the first one or was that the first big one? Like, I'll let you go now.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, so uh after um, you know, we we kind of uh nailed the edit with you, and I think part of the which is something that continues on in the in the process, is the the one thing that you brought that was the most important was uh helping me nail the tone that I wanted. That was that because it is a tricky tone. Yes. I think we both know it. Uh there's some comedy in there, and you were right to kind of remove maybe the more overly comedic bits and stay with the more gallows humor that we were uh intending. I think um that was that was definitely a part of it. And so continue on.
SPEAKER_02I I I had heard you mention that in another podcast too, and I yeah, I I do recall there was probably some broad comedy. I don't remember what specifically there was, but yeah, I remember thinking I'm like, and you when you brought that up in the podcast, I was like, oh yeah, like I do remember us having conversations saying, hey, you know, your film is better than this joke, so you could lose it and you would probably narrow down the tone even better. So it's not a broad combo.
SPEAKER_00Brett and Rachel, it's a dark comedy. Yeah. Although Brett and Rachel absolutely there was a it was the joke, uh I think there were one of the jokes was with them, and they're just like, Oh, I can't believe you cut that. I was like, trust me, it works better without it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I vaguely, I think I vaguely remember that. Yeah, there being like a couple of things. You would have gotten a laugh, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_00Just like goofy chat down, yeah. Yeah, it was just goofy. Yeah, it was goofy. Because they they would also ad lib sometimes. I don't remember if it was uh I think it was one of mine, but it could have been there's there's a mix, there were some ad libs in there.
SPEAKER_02Ooh, Jay's gonna throw one of them under the bus.
SPEAKER_00Just kidding. No, no, no, no. I I I I'm pretty sure what you cut out was me because most of the ad libs that I remember are actually still in the film.
SPEAKER_02Um, so the that's and listen, I'm I'm I'm a bit of an actor too, so it's like actors can ad lib, but they're just also just trying to work through the scene sometimes, and it's like, I guess I'll just keep going, you know, until they're stopped or someone yells cut. So they might take that as as most improv does, it's like it can go off in another direction, and then at the end you're like, what the hell were we doing? We were thinking we were like so wrapped up in a moment, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. So no, no, yeah, for sure. Um, but yeah, so so you went through that process and then uh you got through the coloring, and so did that take like another year, or what what sort of happened there?
SPEAKER_00Almost uh I think when you left us, it was uh, you know, as you're well aware, you were the second editor, and there there was um the that process had taken a significant amount of time, but I think we were like by the end of the summer, right? It's like I remember September, October, and that's when they started on the long process of doing like sound. Music had already started. Okay. Uh music started quite early on in during the edit, uh, because it was a friend of mine, and we were just working stuff out uh constantly. Um and then uh that so both but both of those things, I think what took also some time was also tonally as well, because sometimes they would go a little goofy with the soundtrack, and I was like, no, no, kind of bring it, bring it, bring it back down, and even the music too, uh, it would go, you know, it the music is is so unique to this film because we've spent a lot of time trying to do it, uh uh and it's it's like a mishmash of different uh styles, and so we wanted to have that kind of hit the right tone with that as well. Um like the coloring just took long because there was um you know issues with with uh timelines. Um it is not the what the work was was good, but it was just you know uh timelines were not uh not handled correctly.
SPEAKER_02Did you go through a post house or did you use a freelancer colorist? Freelance colorist.
SPEAKER_00Um but um in the end the work was good uh on on everyone's part, and uh that's what really matters, but it did delay us like submitting to festivals and stuff. Uh so I think the first round of festivals that we sent off to, uh I think Fright Fest was in the first round. Okay, and we we uh I was looking like I had a list of festivals that I was like gonna I if I get into any one of them, I'm like I'm good. Yeah, you know. Wasn't like I mean obviously, you know, you s you submit to like the big ones like Khan and Tiff and all that stuff, but you know, they're they're super hard. I I was really hoping for like a good genre fest. Yeah, uh and Fright Fest is like at the top of the list. Totally, yeah. And uh I I submitted to them, and like two weeks later they got back to me and they were like, we'll love to have the film in. So I was like, Alright, well, that was quick, and we I'd already gotten what I wanted, so I was like, great, that's that's awesome. And um, you know, I think some people would have liked to have maybe premiered in in Canada first and then kind of gone on, but you know what? I got to have my film premiere in the West End of London.
SPEAKER_02And there's so like there's so many it's like amazing, yeah, and there's so many opportunities to screen, like it doesn't matter what comes first, right? It's like there's not gonna be overlap of people in England being in Canada, be like, oh, I already saw it, and then we're burned. It's like two opposite ends of the planet. I think you're fine. Um yeah, so that's great, and you had a great premiere in uh at Fright Fest, and I you know I've worked on several films that have either premiered or screened at Fright Fest, and that's always the top of the list for horror films. That's where they all want like I said, whether they want to premiere or at least screen there, that always seems to be a really big deal, which is great. So then did Raven Banner come in before that, or did they yeah, they were part of the tax credits of the Canadian distributor.
SPEAKER_00Oh they they were involved way before. Um there's a certain limit on who you can use for for for that. So interesting, okay. Uh they came on before, and they're the uh they were the natural, I suppose. Um there were there were a few options, but I think um our producers had some relationship with them, so that I think that was the easy uh choice uh at the time. And at so at Frightfest, Fright Fest does a lot of like promotion, and you get a lot of reviews, you got a little coverage, they have a red carpet where like there's doing TikTok interviews and all that stuff. That's great. So we got a lot of stuff off of that, and um we didn't have a sales agent at the time.
SPEAKER_02Uh so was Raven Banner wasn't your sales, like they didn't have someone representing sales for Sick Puppy?
SPEAKER_00No, because they're just our Canadian distributor. Um we still uh had the we kept the world option. Um uh we didn't really have uh um anyone for the world option. Okay. So it was still open, we could go with anyone we wanted. Right. And uh yeah, so what we what happened was uh getting into Fright Fest, like you know, we had another producer come on um from um you know just like an executive uh producer who is just fantastic, he's a great guy. He's uh he's a friend of my producer Jason's and he's my friend too. And he's a new he's a nice, like he he he has a very uh good understanding of the business as well as the especially the genre side of things. And can you say his name? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Jason Goldberg. He's um yeah, yeah, he produced this movie called Glorious, uh, which is on Shudder. It's got uh Ryan Quantin, I believe, and um J.K. Simmons. It's a really interesting film. It was directed by, I believe, the Fangoria, um somebody from Fangoria. It was I I saw it, I I I enjoyed it. It was a really unique, kind of weird take on um, you know, uh otherworldly uh you know encounters. And it's um but you know, like so he knew him and he was able to kind of get us out there and and be seen. He liked the film a lot and he wanted to help us. And so he kind of got the film to the people that he knew that he had spent years building these relationships. And one of them, I think we got we got a few offers, but one of them was from uh Dark Sky, which I was familiar with as well. Uh, because I think when I went to my first Fantasia or my second Fantasia film, they had it was a Dark Sky film, and these guys were well known in the business. Like they they had also one of the films that influenced me the most when making this, like one of the two films that influenced me the most was Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, and uh MPI Dark Sky actually made Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, like they produced it before they were even a district distribution company.
SPEAKER_02So uh just to just to go on that a little bit, it is strange how serendipitous that can happen sometimes. I'm literally in the same boat with my film Backpay. Like it got I tried to, you know, I hasn't done a festival run or anything yet, but um I tried to like hit up a few distributors and you know, every the ones that some like did some, you know, one gave me an offer, I wasn't crazy about it, and you know, it just it wasn't working. And then all of a sudden the company that I was aware of and I've seen their films and I thought, man, it'd be crazy if we got them. They're the ones that came on board and saw the potential of the film and whatever that they can do with it. Who knows what that'll turn into, right? Right? That's the other side of a distribution. I'm sure we're all going to you're going to understand it soon if you haven't already, right? Is that you know distribution can sometimes be the greatest thing in the world. Whoever gets your film, you know, takes it and runs with it, makes it work, or you can end up in a situation where you have to really make it work. And maybe maybe promises aren't kept, or maybe they are and expectations need to change, right? On your end especially. So but you don't really know when you're in a situation like that usually until you're pretty far in. Right. So exactly I I I got who I wanted, similar to how you did with Dark Sky, but at the same time, it's like I could look back a year or two from now and then go, nah, maybe maybe I should have gone over here. And hopefully I don't. I don't feel that's going to happen, but you know, a lot of people have been through a lot of rough situations with distribution. It's not something a lot of people talk about and they should definitely talk about more.
SPEAKER_00Well, I guess they're scared that like maybe if they start badmouthing distributors, you know, nobody will.
SPEAKER_02But it's not about that. Like, there's nothing to badmouth about dark sky or anything. They haven't you're in it with them and uh they're doing great things for you. Um but it's just funny how it's like how serendipitous that can happen sometimes. Because I'm sure, like you said, you might have talked to other distributors and things weren't working, and then all of a sudden the company that you want to be with is the one that wants to take your film on. So it's like you manifested it together, right?
SPEAKER_00I you know, I I I trusted them, um, you know, based on they seem like genuine people, they're which is really important for sure. They're they're nice, they understand movies, you know. We like any distributor, you're not gonna agree on every single thing that they do. Yeah um, but it's it's about like the general like being okay with like the people and trusting them to a certain extent, yes, you know, as you can in this business, uh and liking the stuff they put out, and you know, like these guys, pretty much like two of the more famous films that they have there are um you know Henry and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Yes, which is my favorite horror film. So it's it's um but they also just like over the years have created these like really interesting like sort of dark comedies and horror films. They got you know like they started off like Ty West's early films, so it they really like kind of have an idea about like what's um what's working, you know.
SPEAKER_02Um and that is also really important is to find distributors that understand that like would take your film. Right? Like I think a lot of people just assume any distributor would take any film. It's like no, you w preferably in my opinion, you want to find someone who can specialize and really understand what your film is rather than someone that just shotguns a catalog of different films out into the ether without really any focus on any particular genre or you know, the budget level or anything, right? It's like you want someone that understands what your film is. And isn't just taking it on to like juke up their catalog a little bit and take a few dollars every year.
SPEAKER_00And and you can you can see that when they try to promote the film. Yeah. When they when you when they cut the trailer or when they kind of uh did the poster for the film, you could tell they got the film. Yeah. They understood it. Like they understood the tone, they understood everything that was required to but they also like knew how to kind of sell it in their own way. So I think that like solidified it for me because I was like, okay, they get the movie.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. No, that's and that's great. So let's talk about um where it is now and what sort of the next couple of months looks like for Sick Puppy. And you know, I I I think it's been released in the US now, and then when when is it coming to Canada? Why don't you let everyone know what's going on?
SPEAKER_00So Sick Puppy was released on May 22nd in the US in theaters and on uh video on demand at the same time, which is kind of like a hybrid model that uh Dark Sky often uses. It's great. Uh it was like a limited uh release theaters, but we we were in um you know a few cities, and uh uh I attended the the LA premiere with um Brett and Rachel and uh Jason uh you know uh Goldberg as well. We all uh had a great time and it was a very nice like reception. Like people really seem to enjoy themselves, which is great because it was like 10 p.m. on a Friday. So it was uh it was great. We had a moderator from Fangoria and it was uh no, it was uh it was a fun time. And um so now after that, um you know it's still being available. I don't know when it's going to hit streaming that we haven't had that conversation yet. Um and um also physical media uh that's that's on the table now. So uh we're gonna see I'll have more news about that as it as it goes on.
SPEAKER_02And any word of like how it's done in the other theaters in the select uh any have you been able to find get any numbers or any any info?
SPEAKER_00Well, usually usually they give you like quarterly reports and stuff, so the that'll come later on. I'll I'll figure that out. I mean it's it's hard for especially for like an indie film, like you know, you know, one of the reasons that like obsession did so well. Aside from just like having this guy having his own, you know, background and and and fan base is that you know it's like it's a bigger company that has access to more publicity, that has access to more. It's a lot of money. Like people are like, oh, this movie was made for 750,000. No. Look at what the marketing budget was for.
SPEAKER_02They probably dropped 10 million and then uh and then the word of mouth just turned into its own thing, turned into memes, turned into tweets, you know, and it's like and you just have this really great lead actress who like it's like everything could have couldn't have gone more right in their uh you know in their favor, and they deserve it. The movie is incredible, so it's like you can't even argue. It's just one of these things that happens sometimes.
SPEAKER_00And they have a great marketing campaign too, and it's but the those type of things require a lot of money and like indie films generally don't have that. Yeah, and and so yeah, and so like I don't know how it it it it would have done. I think there was a strong push for the the video on demand as well because a lot of people just like wouldn't have access to the film otherwise because it's only playing in select cities. So I uh you know, people are like asking about the film. I was like, I'm glad that they were able to do that. We've taken a bit of a different approach in Canada. In Canada, we're not presently planning um just yet to go on to video and demand. Okay. Uh we will eventually I expect, but the right now we're sticking with just a theatrical uh release. Can you take the film on the road? Can you that's that's that's what we're doing. Yes, that's great. Because I I think for a film like this, it is really hard to put it in a theater for like a week and expect it to um you know do well. Maybe down the line, maybe once it builds up a lot of um, you know, good uh positive word of mouth, then that that is a possibility. But right now it's like kind of going to be a little bit more.
SPEAKER_02Especially right now, like if you're gonna go on the road with it, this is what I tell you call it the Canadian Obsession. That's all it you know put in every headline. This to me, this film is as close to obsession as anything else, so why not lean into it and why not, you know, dovetail off of that success? Um because there's a lot there's a lot of parallels and there's a lot to enjoy, obviously, in both films, but I d I think I think people are going to enjoy Sick Puppy a lot more than they expect, and I'm sure you kind of saw I'm sure the reactions at your LA premiere probably leaned into that more than you even expected.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, and I was I I was surprised. Like people, well, you know, when you're sitting in the theater, especially it's hard, like drama is impossible to tell. Yeah, like you can't you they'd just be sitting there and like but you could hear like the laughter or you could hear the gasps when uh like a certain character was threatened or another one was killed. Right. You so you knew people were paying attention, yes. So that's kind of nice. Um, but yeah, the the uh we had our first screening at the Rio Theater in Vancouver. Yes. Uh so we were able to get some people out to that. It was uh um kind of uh hosted by the Vancouver Horror Show, which is like a um pretty much like the biggest like horror um festival here in in uh in Vancouver, and they were so so nice to do that. Uh the the the head David Taylor hosted the Q ⁇ A. Um and it was just uh it was great response. Like I again, like I was noticing like people had like some great questions at the end, and they had some amazing like responses, like just listening to them in the audience, which is and are you taking it if you don't mind me asking, are you taking it on the road like is Dark Sky or Raven Banner one of those people?
SPEAKER_02Are they sort of you know financing this tour? Or are you sort of like putting it on your back? And then that way you get uh like I said, uh people think it's a tagging to talk about money, but this is what I would this is what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the business of film and how we make money from these great projects that we do, right? So it's like, are you are you putting it on your back, or is you know, Raven Banner or Dark Sky sort of helping finance the the tour? Because it's not cheap to travel around this country, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00No, but they they uh they are definitely supportive of um the you know the run that we're doing. Yeah. Um, you know, they promote it, uh, they help out where they can. Um, you know, as far as organizing it, I would definitely say like that would be on on my team and myself. Yes, okay. Um I I do have good relationships um with people, especially, you know, like the theaters, because I'm a huge theater goer myself, so I can basically just you know tell them the truth. Like I support your theater all the time. Let's let's let's let's do let's do this. Like I try to make sure that it's it's a good idea like financially for both parties, you know. Um rich off of this, but it's like it's it's about like making sure that we support each other.
SPEAKER_02And it's word of mouth, you know, it's spreading the word about the film.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. And uh uh, you know, the the theaters I worked at have been very supportive, and they've been just especially like for indie horror film. I think that's Canadian indie horror film, like they're that's great. I'm I'm I'm very happy with how that's going, and then so we we do what we can to promote it as much as we can. Um and we're trying different methods, seeing what works the best. Uh it's it's a learning process, I would say. I mean, we're playing um next. Uh we have some uh theaters that we're talking to across Canada. Uh Next, I think made the most sense really would be to go where we shot the movie, which is in Toronto. Yes. And so my um the theater that I actually was visiting during the the filming of this movie, I would go see go there and see like Sleepaway Camp or some other horror movie, and they have a cool bar next door. I'd have dinner at. It's uh the review. And uh that's you know, I was just there, you know, to see the Kill Bill, you know, uh extravaganza uh when they put the two movies together. Uh I just saw that like in February or January or something, and I just love that theater and I'm I'm really glad that we're having kind of our uh Toronto Toronto premiere there on July 15th.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I was I was about to say, let's make sure we drop the date, uh the review in 2013. July 15th. July 15th.
SPEAKER_006 30 p.m. It's there's gonna be in QA with myself. Uh I know Brett um is going to be there for sure. Uh and then we may have a few others depending on their schedules, but it's get Natasha.
SPEAKER_02I think a lot of people are gonna want to, you know, get her autograph once they see this performance, you know. She is incredible.
SPEAKER_00She's very very busy. She just got a new show. I know, I know. It's a big show, too, isn't it? Uh yeah, yeah, it's big here. Um, you know, I think it's Netflix that does it. Yeah, I can't remember. But yeah, I I I do she is quite quite busy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh so whenever she uh is able to do it, uh that'll be great. Uh because I I do think a lot of people really want to talk to her. It's uh be like, why did you do this?
SPEAKER_02How did you do this? Who are you?
SPEAKER_00It's it's it's a uh a memorable performance. Uh I think that's something that's gonna continue. She'll get people coming up to her years later and being like, this is you know something special. Yeah. And I think uh the yeah, that's uh absolutely uh, you know, and and and everyone that you know, all my actors that that we worked with together, they all did the same. They all turned in amazing performances and they were such a fun people to work with and they're friends, and yeah, they're it's I'm I'm super happy that uh people are finally getting to see them in their own country, yeah. With you know, like their friends and family are gonna get to see it. Um and I I love that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. Well, I appreciate you talking to me about this. My uh my uh card is about to run out here, so uh thanks very much. No, but I'm gr I'm glad we got a chance to talk about this because uh I think it's important for people to hear about. And I think it's important for people to hear about a film like this, you know, which to me is uh a really you know grassroots indie success story and deserves to have the attention, deserves even more attention than it's already gotten. And uh, you know, this is this to me is what it's all about. So I think that's great. So yes, uh July 15th, uh I will be there barring some other dramatic reason, but otherwise I will be there as well. Uh I definitely want to go and support and I want to see I don't think I've seen the finished film. I I don't remember the edit, it's been two years, so I think I would remember like half of it, but overall I haven't heard the music, I haven't seen the color correct. I think you sent me a link once, but it was like really low grade. I was like, all right, no, I want to see this at least in HD. This will be the best way to see exactly with an audience, a nice 2K DCP that's gonna look good. Great man. All right, well, appreciate it, Jay. So that's been yeah, so that's been the film element podcast. Thanks for listening, watching, whatever you're doing. Uh like, subscribe, check it out, and uh we'll see you maybe next week. I don't know what I don't know when my next episode is gonna be. But either way, thanks for uh listening and watching.