Adam Golomb - Writer/Producer/Lead

How did the idea for this story come about?
In a dream. It was so disturbing and vivid that, after it woke me up, I was compelled to write it down. My dream is the sequence in the movie when Marty and Roy discover the Dog tied behind the back of a pickup truck at a red light, and must free it before the light turns green or it will be dragged to death. The dream was surreal and horrifying, but filming it was great!

We were fortunate enough to cast Steve Berens' fantastic Dog, Emmett, in the title role and, whenever on set, he was under the constant eye of the American Humane Society. After several takes where I (as Roy) get to 'put some hurt on' the Dog's twisted owner, the AHS representative told me that I was living out her dog-abuser-revenge fantasy. I told her it had been a dream of mine as well.

The movie came about because a couple things happened. Chris and I had a conversation in LAX after we completed some re-shooting for Sammyville in early October of 1998. He had read the Dog Story script and said "You know Adam, you really oughta think about doing that one." So I rewrote the script in an effort to curb the production cost and went looking for the money. Then in February of 1999, Jian expressed interest in directing and co-producing and things started to really move. With Jian and Chris on board, we began having regular script development meetings and critiques that, I feel, lifted the piece to a new level. The rest is thankfully history.

What makes this movie different from the typical crime thriller?
Unlike many movies in this genre that revolve around the hunt for a precious jewel, rare art or other fantastic material items, Roy and Marty ultimately risk their lives to find something that most of us already have and often take for granted: Happiness. They have been a stone's throw away from the American dream for so long that it now seems practically unobtainable. Everything they seek and fight on this day for is done with the hopes of achieving that end.

I also think this movie is different because it travels through, what feels like, several different worlds. I wanted to try and keep the audience's anxiety level as high as possible and never let them get to comfortable with familiar sights or provide them with extra information. For example, we are never told exactly how far Roy and Marty have to go to accomplish their mission, all we know is that they have to go there and return home by tonight. There are many other differences and surprises, but I don't want to give anything else away. I'll just say that I'll feel good if the audience is tired when it's all over.

What does the dog mean to you?
Many things. It primarily represents the complete life that Roy and Marty long for. The dog completes them, but they don't know that it can until it does. They don't pick this dog from a shelter (as Emmett was in real life!) or from a breeder. This dog chooses them. I welcome the audience to draw their own conclusions.

What was it like working with a professionally trained dog?
Emmett was amazing. He was the most professional and agreeable actor on the set. Every other cast member knew exactly what was required of him or her well in advance. Emmett however, only knew what he was supposed to do when it came time for him to do it. And he always did it. Steve would direct him with both verbal instructions and hand signals fortified with bites of turkey. We would typically rehearse a move a couple of times and then Steve would say "he's ready". Emmett got it right almost every time and these weren't roll over and bark kind of tricks. Emmett was required to do things that don't come naturally to a sweet dog. I was astonished to learn that Steve had only been working with him for the past four months since he had found him in a shelter. If Emmett comes off half as heroic in the movie as he was in real life, the audience will be charmed and thrilled.

What was the challenge of being the writer, producer and actor?
The main challenge for me as writer/producer/actor was knowing when to wear each hat. Ideally, once production began I was only supposed to be acting. However, the reality is that if you set out to make an independent film you must be prepared to do anything and everything to get the movie made. Period. Some problems are foreseeable and some aren't.

One example is that we had a problem with a roll of film that contained some great stuff and everything on it was destroyed. This meant that we were going to have to make extra time to shoot it all again (which doesn't exist on a 14 day shoot) and spend another day in one of the movie's most unpleasant locations. Jian and Chris were notified of the problem in the morning but withheld the information from me until that night because they didn't want me to think about it while I was acting. This was a big moment for me because it was when I realized that it was okay to distance myself from every last detail. There were some things that I didn't want, or need, to know at that time. There was a problem and it got dealt with. Thankfully we were all spared, ultimately re-shooting without working on an off day. We had other close calls, a few broken bones, and rain and hail that hadn't been seen in that area in years, but it all worked out. I suppose it takes a few nightmares to get one Dog Story.