Through the month of March 2013, viewers of a 1-minute video could decide whether a series about an amazing service dog gets funded and produced. The series “Jake” tells the story of a highly-trained but lonely service dog that finds love and a family when he helps a young woman rebuild her life.
In this age of online video, film investors can require a producer to post a pitch video to test audience interest. View count is one factor guiding the decision of whether or not to fund a project. Producer Cathleen MacDonald is hoping there are people who will take a minute to watch the video for “Jake”.
MacDonald was inspired to make this story when she produced a documentary about service dogs for her television series Working Animals (Discovery Channel Canada, Animal Planet). “I fell in love with these amazing dogs. Their intelligence, devotion, and character epitomize the relationship between dogs and people.”
MacDonald has also produced stories about the lives and accomplishments of people with disabilities. The experience showed her there is a need for stories that portray people as individuals and not just as a disability.
She adds, “This series brings together two unique characters that need one another. The human helps the dog as much as the dog helps the human. It’s what defines the bond between dogs and people. It’s a partnership.”
The role of “Jake” will be played by a real service dog that is trained by the Lions Foundation Dog Guides. Dog Guides is a non-profit organization that trains and provides service dogs for people who need assistance for mobility, vision, hearing, or seizure alerts.
When completed, the web series will be available on its own website and across many well-known platforms like YouTube, BlipTV, and more.
Oh BJ - that video brought tears to M's eyes. Thank you for posting it because we had not heard about that. M worked with a teacher who was a hearing specialist and she had a service dog because of not being able to hear certain frequencies (ambulances, etc). Those dogs are wonderful and they know when it's time to work - it;s tiime to work and they can play later.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful video!
ReplyDeleteHope she gets her funding - wonderful dog and people need to better understand all the roles service dogs perform. Thanks for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteMommy says that she should submit this to SpiritClips - http://www.hallmarkspiritclips.com/ - and ask them if this might be something they are interested in!
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