Family movie Runt has just opened, the story of a young girl and her hound who want to save the family farm. Its stellar cast includes Jack Thompson, Matt Day, Jai Courtney, Deborah Mailman, and Celeste Barber. Forgetting the grown-ups, audiences will be bedazzled by the film’s younger stars, ten year old Lily LaTorre and Squid, a rescue dog.
Runt is filmed in York, but the WA connections don’t end there. The movie is based on local author Craig Silvey‘s novel, which captivated producer Jamie Hilton, a Sydneysider who has fallen for Perth, where he’s made eight movies, and started a family.
Jamie chats to The Starfish:
What’s Runt about, in a nutshell?
Runt is a story about a young girl Annie Shearer and her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt who take it upon themselves to try and save the family farm by competing at the Krumpets Canine Agility Competition in London.
How did you get drawn into this one?
Well my wife, Jessie Hilton at Open Book in Mosman Park, the best bookshop in the world, suggested I read Craig Silvey’s novel Honeybee. I was immensely impressed, and managed to track Craig down to try and pitch for the film rights. They were taken – but Craig arrived at our meeting with a manuscript and proceeded to pitch me his new story Runt. I read it overnight and we were in development together the following day. My family and I have a special connection to this story as we adopted our rescue dog Roo when living in Los Angeles, she moved back to Mosman Park with us. She came from the streets of Mexico and is now a Western Suburbs princess.
They say never work with kids and animals, what were you thinking?
Yes well, often they are right. But in this case, it was all worth it. People often talk about the challenges in film, and yes, there were obvious ones, but film making is problem solving, and we got there. Also, I find that dogs and humans who love dogs are generally more enjoyable to associate with than those who don’t. Lily and Jack, our two lead child actors were a revelation, a total delight, not the slightest bit of trouble.
How many dogs did you audition to play Runt, until you came across Squid the rescue dog?
From the beginning, we wanted to rescue a dog and find it a home. We also knew that most of the trained agility dogs are a specific breed. For Runt, we needed to cast a mixed breed dog, with a bit of terrier. So we couldn’t cast a traditional agility dog. Our animal team found Squid in a shelter. They sent us the pictures and we all fell in love. They went to see her to assess her aptitude for learning and whether she’d be calm enough to work on set. They thought she had huge potential and adopted her right away and began her training.
Where is Squid now?
Squid now lives with her mum Rebecca in regional Victoria. Squid and all Rebecca’s animals traveled across the Nullarbor and back in air conditioned RVs. It was a big adventure for them all.
What in particular became quite a challenge during filming?
Finding a spot for more than 50 dogs to go to the toilet in the middle of the Perth CBD across a few days of filming was interesting. And keeping all the dogs cool enough in-between takes to run multiple exterior agility course races in the WA summer was also a challenge. But film crews do logistics well and the dog agility community in Perth were incredibly supportive.
Now that you’re a dad of two little ones, does this make you more interested in making films for youngsters?
Absolutely, and it was a real buzz screening the film for my kids. They were my first test audience. Since I’ve become a dad, my kids seem to drive a lot of my activity, and their opinion matters more than anyone’s! We invited Lenny’s whole class to our cast and crew screening and Craig did a little shout out in his intro speech, and it was a real buzz. There’s a little dedication card at the end of the film to Craig and my kids and our rescue dog Roo.
What drew you to filming the movie in York?
York the town is like a movie set; the perfect canvas for Upson Downs. It was also right next to Balladong Farm where we shot the Shearer family farm. And the wider region provided the golden and dry canvas we wanted for the film, which is set during a drought. York also had just enough accommodation and pubs to feed our crew. It was such a warm and hospitable town, everyone we met, local businesses, extras, crew, the shire and the town were all such champions. We all had a great time there.
Do you feel especially attached to WA after having lived here?
West Australia definitely feels like home now. I often do long walks with Roo between Claremont and Fremantle, along the banks of the river and then the dog beach at Leighton, or Swanbourne. It’s a spectacular place. I’ve made seven films here now – eight if you count post-production – and both my kids were born in Subiaco. We always spend a chunk of January down south, and then there’s the Kimberley, Denmark and The Great Southern, where we shot Breath, and of course Rotto. There’s an expression that people often don’t know how lucky they are – but most West Australians I’ve met do know exactly how lucky they are. I’m very attached the this place, yes.
Are you excited about WA’s future as a destination for more films?
Yes, I’m very optimistic about WA becoming a more vibrant and active filming destination for international film and television and for the local work to increase. The government has long had a desire to diversify the local economy and the creative industries also improve culture and help make cities better and more enjoyable places to live. Obviously I’m part of this industry so I’m biased, but I think it’s a really smart move by the government to increase investment and attract more production and to create more creative jobs in the state.
Will the new studio being built here make a big difference?
Again, I am not objective here, as I’m involved in the studio project, but yes, I think it’s going to have a huge impact. I’m not sure many people inside or close to the local industry quite has a grasp on the growth coming. I recently visited Wellington where they made Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the Avatar franchises. It’s a city full of interesting people who love their job. And there are tens of thousands of people who make a sustainable living in the film business. Queensland’s Gold Coast is similar. These small cities were not film hubs, but with the creation of infrastructure and attraction of offshore productions, these cities have transformed.
You recently moved back to Sydney. Why did you decide to leave the west?
I haven’t left the west, I just have a foot on both coasts. My mother isn’t well and it’s important to us that the kids have some face time with her while she’s here and dad needs a hand on the primary care front. Lenny our oldest is settled at school this year so we’ll probably keep him there next year but both Jessie and I have businesses in WA and are back and forward all year.
And finally, why should we all go and see Runt?
Runt is pure joy. The world can be a complicated place right now, and Runt has a truckload of what we all need right now. It’s also a fantastic local story, written by a West Australian legend in Craig Silvey and made by a lot of local filmmakers. The Australian gave it 4.5 stars and called it “the feel good film of the year”. Please do go and see it, more than once if you love it. It’s a very fun local film, with huge heart.
Runt is now screening at your local cinema.
