Firedog LLC has started pre-production in Los Angeles on its $2 million independent, animated feature film, FIREDOG, with principal production to be carried out at Camp Chaos Studios. Aaron Henry and Eric Treibatch of Ent. Consulting Group and Scott Duthie will produce, Clifford Matthews will exec produce original screenplay by Glen Stephens to be directed by Duthie.
Scout, the canine star of the story, is separated as a puppy from his rural farm home during a fire. Hector,a fast-talking chicken, accompanies Scout on his adventures as he finds his way to the Bronx in New York and is adopted by a firemans son. Having grown into adulthood and trained as a Firedog, Scout must overcome his phobia of fire in order to save the young boys father from a devastating, inner-city blaze.
Tom Arnold, Lauren Bacall, Tom Berenger, Danny Bonaduce, Beverly DAngelo, Tony Danza, William Katt, Michael Madsen, Rudolf Martin, Nia Peeples and Dan Roberts compose the primary voice over cast. Most have already laid down their voicetracks for the film.
We saw a great opportunity to produce a franchise that would appeal to children all over the world, said Matthews. The script has all of the necessary elements to make for a new childrens classic a heroic main character and his eccentric sidekick in a storyline with both excitement and humor.
The productions digital pipeline, a combination of proprietary technology and off-the-shelf 2D and 3D packages, will be utilized to deliver the film on an approximately six-month production schedule. No distributor has yet been tapped.
FIREDOG is the first of three 2D/3D animated childrens feature films from the producing team that are slated to enter production in the next 18 months. The projects in development are in the same budget range and will star comparable A-list talent. The films will be marketed to international buyers and for domestic TV, cable, and direct-to-video distribution.
The picture is privately funded by an investment group in Texas via Matthews. For more information contact Aaron Henry, at the Ent. Consulting Group in Los Angeles via tel. (310) 689-7396, or e-mail aaron@ecg-la.com.
