Red Dog was played by talented pooch Koko and the human lead by American Josh Lucas. Photo / Supplied
Red Dog was played by talented pooch Koko and the human lead by American Josh Lucas. Photo / Supplied
The producer of Australia's latest hit film Red Dog tells Helen Barlow why the story of a charismatic canine in a mining town in the 70s struck a chord.
Film producer Nelson Voss had left Perth at the age of 17 in search of a career in Hollywood. After he returned to Australia and made 2003's Ned Kelly with Heath Ledger he discovered a book and a true-life story that he became determined to turn into a film.
Red Dog, based on the novel by British writer Louis de Bernieres, who himself had stumbled across the incredible exploits of the kelpie-cross whose colour is as red as the iron ore in Dampier where he lived - and where a statue is erected in his honour - has been a huge hit in Australia.
The film has taken in more than A$21 million ($27.6 million) since it was released in August and it's still going strong. It's currently at No.8 on the list of highest grossing local films at the Australian box office, and is biting at the heels of Strictly Ballroom (A$21.7m).
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," admits Voss, who is also feeling chuffed that the film has sold around the world. Part of the appeal of the story, he says, is its universality, in that we are all a bit like Red Dog in our search for identity and a place to belong.
In Dampier in the 70s the charismatic canine helped bring together a disparate bunch of lonely men who were working in the fledgling mining industry. Voss could identify with that.
"I lived a very transient life when I was working for the studios, as I was constantly travelling to different locations. I wasn't married then but now I have a family and live back in Perth [where he has established his production company] so this story appealed to me."
Still, the film's director Kriv Stenders, whose previous dramatic films - including Lucky Country (2009) and his remarkable single-shot drama Boxing Day (2007) - was not known for big crowd-pleasing movies.
Even if he had upwards of A$8.5 million to play with, he admits it was hard making a film for everyone, the kind of family film that does well at the box office as indeed Red Dog has. It helped that he had cast such affable actors - Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor as the leads and Noah Taylor and Keisha-Castle Hughes among a strong supporting cast. But it's Koko who steals every scene he's in.
After a six-month countrywide search Koko was discovered at a breeder's place in Bendigo. "You cast dogs exactly like you do actors," Voss says. "They've got to have that fire going on behind their eyes and they've got to know what they're doing. We actually had four dogs but Koko very quickly stood out. He's in 85 per cent of the film." An older dog was used towards the end of the film, which cleverly parallels Red Dog's lifespan with the rise of the mining industry in Western Australia.
"We deliberately set it in the 70s because that's really when it was born," notes Stenders. "It's quite a fundamental part of Australian history that hadn't really been celebrated before and we wanted to honour those pioneers, that first generation of miners who settled there and started building the infrastructure."
Mining giant Rio Tinto allowed access to some of their mines for filming.
"In the same way that we won't reveal the budget of our movie they didn't tell us what the iron ore was worth," Voss muses, "but one guy took me aside and said, 'See that train, it contains the same value of iron ore as your entire movie budget and the trains are going every hour 24 hours a day, seven days a week'. The region is the economic powerhouse of our country; it's the reason our dollar is at parity with the US dollar. So we wanted to tell that story."
While the stunning cinematography also makes the region look like a picture postcard, the film is more about giving the industry a human face. "There are people who are still up there working for those companies who knew Red Dog," notes Stenders. "They'd pull out photographs and it was really touching."
The story follows a long-haul trucker (Luke Ford) as he stops at the local Dampier pub to quench his thirst. He is stunned to find the atmosphere is strained. Someone has baited Red Dog and the poisoned pooch may not make it through the night. People flock to the hotel from far and wide with tales about how they came to know Red Dog.
There were Americans working in Dampier at the time so that Lucas' role as the man who became Red Dog's master was not unfeasible.
The American actor, who is making something of a comeback after his starring role in the 2005 box office bomb Stealth led to a career downturn, was not the first choice. But he proved a bit of a trooper.
Voss: "We had another actor cast and were two weeks into the shoot when he dropped out. We got the screenplay to Josh in Los Angeles, he loved it and we flew him out. After shooting for two weeks in South Australia we were moving to Dampier and I needed to discuss Josh's transport to Dampier. I told him we had business class tickets but he insisted on driving to soak up the atmosphere. It took him almost a week and in that time he connected to Australian identity. The crew members were really impressed."
Tell us about your experience working on Red Dog, and your character, Rose. Working on Red Dog was a wonderful experience. I only had a small part and was only there for a couple of weeks but I was very excited to work alongside some Aussie acting greats such as Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen and Rachael Taylor.
You starred in a quintessential New Zealand movie about a whale. Now you're starring in a quintessential Australian movie about a dog. Whatever next? Who knows? But there is definitely a trend being set ...
They say you should never work with animals and children. In this film you're doing both... And in the majority of my other work too. I am constantly breaking that unwritten rule.
What was it like working with Koko? Koko was fantastic. What a talented pup he is, truly.
LOWDOWN
What:Red Dog, The biggest Australian movie of many a year When: Opens at cinemas December 1
