200 movie star hopefuls await ‘bark backs’ for dog role in local film

Nearly 200 dogs lined up with their people in Port Royal on Sunday, in the hopes of becoming the next big movie star pup.

The upcoming, local comedy film “Basement Bob” is one step closer to becoming a reality, having finished the casting call for the role of the neighbor’s dog. The line stretched down Paris Avenue, rain and all, leading right up to the Port Royal Veterinary Hospital, where the casting call was held.

Co-director and co-producer VW Scheich and his wife and co-producer Uyen Le said they were expecting maybe 50 folks to come by and were blown away by the positive response from the community. They ran out of the 100 release forms they printed after the first hour and quickly made some more for the eager pet owners.

They both said how amazed they were that so many people braved the thunderstorms just to be part of this local adventure.

“Port Royal comes out strong for filmmaking,” Scheich said.

While dogs were busy getting to know one another, giving everything a good sniff and many having a challenging time focusing, they were all largely well-behaved. Scheich and photographer Susan DeLoach managed to get headshots of each pup through the masterful use of squeaky toys, clapping and fake meowing.

The filmmakers weren’t looking for any particular size or breed, Scheich said. Instead, they were browsing to see what sort of local canine characters were available and looking for a gig. Since the dog will inevitably have to mesh well with the film’s neighbor character, the choice of pup will also depend on which dogs have good chemistry with their pretend owner.

Once the lucky dog is selected, the story will get another look to make sure the character matches the talent. Scheich said his team would “tweak the script” after they’ve found what they’re looking for.

Callbacks — or “bark backs,” as Le is rumored to have called them — will be scheduled with the top five dogs, Scheich said. The film is still in need of a few more investors for it to take off, Scheich said, and the next step will depend on that funding, so no dates are finalized.

This is the first role to be filled for the story of a man living in his ex-wife’s basement. It will be filmed in Beaufort.

For more information, visit http:/www.rareformpictures.com/bb/index.html.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 7:38 AM with the headline "200 movie star hopefuls await ‘bark backs’ for dog role in local film."