![]() “I made that film on a shoestring budget in my mother and father-in-law’s backyard to be able to prove to investors what I could do with so little,” Grayhm said of “The Secret of Sinchanee.” Grayhm fell in love with the area after meeting his wife, an Erving native, in Greenfield, and got to know it better while filming “The Secret of Sinchanee.” The strong sense of community in Franklin County is what drew Grayhm back to the area, he said. Across all walks of life, “we’re all seeking someone who understands us,” he said, with veterans being a prime example. “I was one of the young and naïve part of society that is kind of unaware of the struggles and things that veterans deal with when coming home from war,” said Dallas, who is also co-producing “Sheepdog.” “When I started sitting in front of these men and women, it was just a huge eye-opener for me.”Īside from post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the hardest things veterans go through after their service is “dealing with the loss of brotherhood and camaraderie,” Dallas observed. On this journey, Grayhm and Dallas immersed themselves in the perspectives of combat veterans, stopping to speak with “anybody that would talk to (them) from this community,” Dallas said. Perhaps the most resonant and formative learning experience, though, was a three-month cross-country trip that Grayhm took alongside Matt Dallas, a best friend both in real life and on camera as Daryl Sparks. In an effort to connect with real-life combat veterans, Grayhm said he helped pioneer the “22 Pushup Challenge” to raise awareness of veteran suicide, role-played with professionals at a Veterans Affairs medical center, and even centered his production company around providing on-camera and off-camera opportunities for veterans. Grayhm’s dozen years of commitment to the film has coincided with just as strong a commitment to the subject matter. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Grayhm, who plays Calvin, the “therapy-averse combat veteran.” “There were a lot of false starts. While shooting began on Tuesday in Turners Falls, the film has truly been 12 years in the making, Grayhm said. Written, directed and starring Grayhm, who is best known for his roles in “White Chicks” and Netflix’s “Between,” “Sheepdog” tells the story of “a therapy-averse combat veteran (who) is court ordered into treatment after his plan to unite an ex-con and his daughter shows him that he must put himself back together first,” according to the film’s plot synopsis. The only disappointment, given the subject, is that it’s not a full-on musical - it has musical flourishes, yes, but nothing as memorable as “Let It Go.After falling in love with Franklin County while filming his 2021 thriller “The Secret of Sinchanee,” Team House Studios’ Steven Grayhm is back to film “Sheepdog,” a drama he feels is his “magnum opus.” The film, based on a Chinese graphic novel and directed by Ash Brannon, keeps its animation simple and its story lines clear, which makes it reliable fare for the 10-and-younger set. Bodi leaves Snow Mountain and largely by accident makes his way to Angus’s mansion, whose excessive security features are a comic high point of the film.Īs Bodi pursues his dream, a pack of wolves pursues him grown-ups will enjoy hearing the distinctively enraged voice of Lewis Black as the head wolf. He’s especially enamored of Angus Scattergood, a legendary rocker whose voice is provided by Eddie Izzard in a delightful performance. He has accidentally come into possession of one, and the music he hears on it makes him long to try the rock ’n’ roll life. ![]() And an appealingly nasty wolf, too.īodi (the voice of Luke Wilson) is a mastiff who - as all young animated characters must - chafes at his assigned role in life, which is to guard the sheep on Snow Mountain. The title character of “Rock Dog” isn’t likely to end up on anyone’s Top 5 list of animated heroes, but the film does have a thoroughly enjoyable rocker in it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |