Drama in the Can

We had an amazing time in December filming with our English actors, Neil Morrissey and Richard Huw. We had 12 action-packed days with them and we all worked flat out to get the dramatic portion of Sniff “in the can.”

The weekend at the “Infinite Paws Hotel” was perhaps the most gratifying. We had over 20 dogs on set throughout the course of the weekend, and with the addition of delightful performances by Amanda Plummer and Maurice Godin as the fictitious owners of the hotel, our extras, cast and crew of volunteers and near-volunteers were aglow with the spirit of fun and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see Barry’s dream coming to fruition, and we are both so grateful to all who have helped support us in getting this far.

The American Humane Association sent a representative to see that no animals were being harmed in the process. I don’t suppose there has ever been a cast of doggies more well-loved than ours were. Trainer Francis Metcalf made sure the dogs were well acclimatized to Neil and Richard wearing Angela Thomas’ wonderfully realistic but somewhat daunting dog masks, and we had lots of laughs while filming dogs doing yoga, watching tv, reclining in the luxury of a fur-lined futon and relaxing in the spa!

The last shot of the weekend was a scene with several dogs being serenaded with live music. Bluegrass mandolin player and fellow film-maker Finn Taylor and his guitarist friend played us a choice of tunes for the scene, and the cast and crew had a moment of spontaneous toe-tapping and dancing when the musicians struck gold!