|
|
|
When an out of work Gulf War vet (Leo) is offered some quick cash as a bodyguard, he jumps at the chance. His job is to escort a diamond courier from the airport to a large wholesaler in L.A. ...simple enough. Unfortunately for Leo, the security boss (Sal) who hired him plans to steal the diamonds. Add two corrupt detectives and a disgruntled ex-jeweler all looking for the stones, Leo and company soon have nowhere to turn. Bad turns to worse when the 'diamonds' turn out to be fake...and everyone wants what Leo doesn't have.
QUICK C A S H F A K E DIAMONDS and a TRIPLE C R O S S
BULLDOG is an action/dark comedy told with the wit and satire fitting of a good indie flick. Not the typical heist story... Not the typical heroes... And not the typical budget..!
|
|
NOT J U S T ANOTHER "N O-B U D G E T" INDIE...
How do you get over forty cast members crammed into forty locations all in a six week shoot..?
"We knew that this would be a challanging task, considering it was only myself and Neil (producer Neil Blitstein) behind the scenes" says Writer/Director Damon Stout. "Figuring out what resources were available and what was lacking constituted our first week of pre-production." "But I did specifically write the script around the premise of actually shooting it...so there wern't too many surprises."
Making up the entire crew, Damon and Neil had a crash course in many production jobs. "There was so much to do, thinking about it now still seems overwhelming" says producer Neil Blitstein. "Everything from props, craft service, wardrobe...to location managing, lighting and scheduling...not to mention all of the typical paper work that goes into any production."
It's all in the prep--making sure everything can run as smooth as possible. Once casting was complete, the shooting schedule was worked out to accomodate every imaginable conflict. "We obviously didn't think of everything, but there were very few surprises, for the most part" Damon coments. "Our pre-production lasted about two months, and we were surprisingly ready come the first day of filming." Rare for any budget production!
bulldog DAMON STOUT bulldog
This is Writer/Director DAMON STOUT's first feature film project.
In June of 2000, his short subject Sci-Fi film "NOMAD, ROE" received two EMMY awards for Creative Technical Craft at the 52nd Annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards."...my film was the first award presented of the night. I ended up sitting in my seat like an idiot, not knowing if I should go up on stage or not..."
"With BULLDOG, I wanted to write an accessible script that I could shoot for little to no money...something that I could commit all my energy in to doing."
Teaming up with Producer NEIL BLITSTEIN, the two film makers soon realized the daunting task of preproduction. "...there were over forty actors to cast and over forty locations to 'aquire'...we figured about six weeks to shoot."
As with a lot of independent projects, BULLDOG utilized whatever locations were possible. Some actually with permission! "...we did have a few stressfull moments with some locations...but compromises were keept at a minimum" says Stout. "True guerilla style...we're in and out--move on."