Gone Doggy Gone is a comedy about a couple stuck in a lackluster marriage who treat their dog like a baby. Working the grind in Los Angeles they leave little time for each other and what free time they have they spend doting on the dog… until it gets kidnapped! What ensues is an outlandish cat and mouse adventure as they hunt down the kidnapper, enlist a slick dick P.I., find a renewed love for each other, and conquer their fear of parenthood.
Directors’ Statement
There are many films about dogs as beloved pets, police partners, even basketball stars, but few films about dogs as babies. Over the last few years we began to notice an alarming rise in Los Angeles pet owners pushing their fully clothed “babies” around in strollers and stuffing them into Bjorns for “walks”. Which begs the question, why would they do this?
We observed closely and deduced that for some, these pets are “starter babies”. They get to practice at being parents before actually making the leap into the ultimate responsibility. For others, the attention they place on babying their pets takes the heat off dealing with their struggling marriages.
With ‘Gone Doggy Gone’ we set out to comically explore how people use pets to avoid dealing with their relationship issues. We (writers/directors Kasi Brown and Brandon Walter) met in an Upright Citizen’s Brigade Improv class and spent three years feeding our passion for exploring bizarre human behavior with our web-based sketch comedy show, Mother Approved. The natural progression from there was to write and direct our first feature film. We thought that it would be interesting to apply very serious iconic kidnapping movies, Ransom, Silence of the Lambs, Gone Baby Gone, to a couple stuck in a lack-luster marriage who considered their dog to be their “baby”.
We also knew that it could be a small film, something we could make ourselves with limited resources, utilizing the skills we acquired from producing our sketch comedy show.
THIS MOVIE IS UNRATED
If it were, it would be rated R for brief comedic nudity, sexual situations, marijauna use, and language that would make our grandmothers blush. BuzzWorm Films does not suggest this film for small children! It’s best to pre-screen the movie before watching it with them.
About Us
Kasi Brown and Brandon Walter began collaborating after hitting it off in an Upright Citizen’s Brigade Improv class, and formed BuzzWorm Films with the intention of producing a quality sketch comedy show as well as feature films using UCB trained actors. During the summer of 2009, Brandon and Kasi began producing a comedy web series which resulted into a 22 Minute Comedy PILOT called “Mother Approved”. It wasn’t long before they made the front page of Funny or Die as a user pick (February 12, 2010) and two time editor pick. In 2011, Atom.com (Comedy Central’s Web Site) made them an Atom Pick and awarded them a cash prize. From there, they began to build an audience and fan base.
They caught the eye of Desperate Housewives Executive Producer, Larry Shaw, who stated, “Mother Approved is the cure for the common comedy!” and actor Michael Vartan who said, “Mother Approved comedy rocks! Itʼs hilarious and weird, and finally explains all the crap you’ve been so freaked out about your whole life.”
Their Phobia series, which examines real life bizarre phobias and how people deal with them, won best Mobiseries at the prestigious ITV Festival and acquired distribution through Fun Little Movies.
The Inspiration
Kasi had a dogwalker who began to bring her dog, Laila (also starring in the movie), home later and later after visits. She took Laila to the movies, grocery store and even her waxing appointments. She called Laila her BFF. This relationship, prompted Brandon and Kasi to beg the question, what if she just decided to keep Laila for herself?