Mystery, Mood, Meows…
When it comes to working with animals on set, precision, patience, and communication are everything. That’s why the production team behind the recent horror film Bring Her Back called on We Do Animals, Australia’s leading provider of highly trained animal actors.
Our two feline stars, Birdie and her double Moss, are no strangers to the camera. Birdie has built a reputation of being a reliable, confident performer, capable of handling the unique demands of film work and enjoying every moment on-set— especially the eating scenes – from hitting marks to delivering the natural, subtle behaviours that bring authenticity to the screen and are the speciality of the trainers at We Do Animals
For Bring Her Back, Birdie and Moss brought an added layer of atmosphere and tension to key scenes. Working in the eerie world of a horror set can mean long days, complex environments, and plenty of unusual sights and sounds, but both cats took it in stride, showcasing exactly why they’re trusted professionals in the industry.
No spoilers, but let’s just say there are some incredible (and gruesome) sights in the film—including with our cats. Thanks to the magic of movie-making and carefully planned training, Birdie and Moss were purring their way through the whole experience.
At We Do Animals, we’re all about making sure our animals are safe, happy, and comfortable while delivering their best performances.
We’re incredibly proud of our cats’ contribution to this project, and of the opportunity to support filmmakers Danny & Michael Philippou, (brother writer/directors of 2022 hugely popular horror film Talk to me) and Causeway Films, in creating unforgettable stories.
Horror fans — keep an eye out for some four-legged scene-stealing moments!
We’re proud as punch to introduce SQUID!
A dog of indiscriminate breed. With her long legs, scruffy coat, curly tail and tenacious personality, she’s a delight to train and work.
The Project:
‘Runt’, the award winning novel by Craig Silvey was to be made into a movie. The brief was in: find a dog to play the character of Runt. A huge task indeed!
The hunt began…
There are many dogs in rescue in Australia needing a new home. Many of these dogs were enquired about, viewed and auditioned. We didn’t find the one at first, many were too big, lacking in confidence and other barriers. Then one day we woke to an email with this face..!
It’s not all about looks of course. We had to assess her confidence (amongst a long list of other attributes) to see of she had the kind of personality, work ethic and food drive to enjoy film work.
It’s not for every person and It’s not for every dog.
Being the terrier she is, without lots of mental and physical stimulation and play, Squid has exactly the kind of personality who makes up her own games or finds her own jobs around the place. Leaping over a fence, no problem! Excavating a new hole, easy. Barking all day long, what fun!
It’s a familiar feeling for many I’m sure…..Without a job to do Squid would be a nightmare to live with!
It’s one of the many things that made her the perfect dog to embody Runt.
Training began! Squid was learning her trade from scratch. Along with everything a film dog needs to learn, experience, build confidence & familiarity with, we also had a very specific script to train for.
Squid was introduced to the world of agility and, not for the first time, it appeared that Squid had leapt straight from the pages of Craig Silvey’s spectacular novel.
Nimble, fast, agile, quick, smart and loyal – Squid was Runt – and Runt was Squid.
As we move closer to the release we will be adding more footage and training videos of squid on our social media.
To keep up to date and see all things Squid click here to follow her on Facebook and here for her Instagram.
Runt will be showing in Melbourne at MIFF 2024 & then in Australian Cinemas from September 19th 2024!
You’ll also find Squiddy content on our We Do Animals social media!
