WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY Santiago Bukovsky
produced by BRANDON BREFKA, Santiago Bukovsky & MARISSA CLEMENT
After Kaleb backs over a dog in the driveway, his wife Megan discovers it belongs to Eddie, their biker gang neighbor across the street. Anxious about their upcoming housewarming, Megan convinces Kaleb to hide the body in the backyard. Through the ordeal, they delve into the issues of their relationship including their willingness (or lack thereof) to raise children. All the while, Eddie draws closer having discovered his dog has gone missing.
ABOUT THE FILM
Where The Dog Is Buried won the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 "Cans" Film Festival, Grand Rapids, MI.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Santiago Bukovsky is a Mexican American filmmaker drawing inspiration from the oral storytelling traditions within his family and the magical realism of Mexican cinema. He is the founder of Wild Duck Films and is represented by Phoenix Films for commercial production. Raised in a low-income family in rural Oregon, he did not have access to formal training in filmmaking, instead embracing a self-taught approach. This unique path shaped his storytelling, emphasizing the raw, unpolished aspects of the human experience. After completing an undergraduate degree in chemistry, Santiago fully embraced his passion for filmmaking. But as a Mexican American filmmaker, he recognized the lack of accessible role models in the industry. These early career experiences fueled a desire to educate and support others interested in entering the film industry, making it a point to create a welcoming environment for other aspiring filmmakers. His commercial work has been featured on Ads of the World, part of the Clio Network, and his short film screenplay "Where the Dog is Buried" was named a semi-finalist in the 2019 Screencraft Short Screenplay Competition. The dark comedy film is currently entering its festival run and stars Elizabeth McLaughlin (Hand of God; the Clique) and Jordan Fry (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Meet the Robinsons).
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH Santiago
Welcome to our Short of the Week series! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
Absolutely and thank you so much for having me and my film as part of Kino’s Short of the Week! My name is Santiago Bukovsky and I'm an independent film director living in Michigan. I’m an experienced assistant director, as well as a director of narrative films, commercials and music videos. My film background is completely self-taught, I learned everything I know from YouTube tutorials and a lot of different movies in order to piece my skills together. For a couple of years, I worked on small films by myself before eventually finding a filmmaking community out here in Michigan, where I've been able to collaborate with other artists on a variety of independent shorts and feature films.
Can you tell us about the genesis of where the dog is buried and how you came up with the idea?
Oh yeah! “Where the Dog is Buried,” had a really interesting start. I initially had the idea for a story where a couple's relationship falls apart after the death of a dog because I noticed some friends on my social media had, in fact, broken up after the death of a pet. There's no way of knowing what actually caused the break up but it seemed like a really interesting premise full of dramatic tension.
I was in my twenties and feeling a lot of anxiety about growing up and settling down so I wanted to explore that a bit further and create a story where the death of a pet causes a couple to confront their feelings about each other they may have been holding back. From there I sprinkled in dark comedy and a little bit of satire, poking fun at suburban living in order to keep things lighter and a bit more fun and entertaining. The end result was this dark comedy set in the suburbs.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making where the dog is buried and how did you overcome them?
There were so many pieces when it came to making “Where the Dog is Buried.” But the biggest one had to be funding. This was a script that I had been working on for a while. I had actually shelved it in order to make other short film projects and work on projects in the community. And I knew that I wanted to do something really big with it. I wanted it to serve as my calling card, as my directorial voice for filmmaking.
So a big obstacle for that would be having the finances readily available in order to bring on the cast and crew that I wanted and to have the gear that we needed for the shots that I had envisioned for this piece. I was very fortunate that during that time the project was shelved, I was able to set aside a good amount of money from my own personal savings. And then we were able to come up with the rest of the budget for the film through the use of crowdfunding, through Seed and Spark, which I cannot say enough good things about. The good news is by the time it came to film, if a neighbor was out mowing their lawn, we could slip them some cash to hold off for a couple of hours. And we did, haha.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
The journey of getting “Where the Dog is Buried” to audiences has been an exciting one and something that I'm learning more and more about every day. We've submitted the film to festivals and have had mixed results.
We were rejected from the top tier festivals (but you have to try!) and we're hoping to make headway with some of the smaller regional festivals because it would be really great to take this film to live audiences.
I think playing live is really an exciting opportunity for filmmakers, but what cannot be overlooked is the importance of building an online community and getting the film out to audiences that way. Once we cleared festivals that had premiere requirements, I made the decision to release “Where the Dog is Buried” on YouTube, where it just crossed 900 views after being out for only about a week.
So it's been really exciting to see the response online and to see that the reach has been just about as good as you would hope from festivals.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
There's so many elements when it comes to filmmaking that it's hard to pick just one piece of advice. But something that I’ve learned about is start thinking about your audience and your release early, the earlier, the better. If you can start building an audience for the short film as you're writing it, as you're taking it through pre-production, as you're filming it and editing it, you can bring people along on that process, get them excited about it, and then have a built in audience when it's ready to be released, most likely in an online space.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to bring into the industry?
I'll speak from my own experience and say that the biggest challenge so far has been trying to get eyes on your work. There's so much good content out there right now that it can be really difficult to have people watch something that you have worked on, even if it is of good quality. That's kind of the bare minimum that audiences expect.
You know, short films used to serve as a calling card that would then springboard filmmakers into feature films. And that can still be the case. But I don't think it's as common these days.
So I really think that building a brand around your filmmaking, your aesthetic, your journey and building an audience around yourself, an audience that is excited to hear updates from you and see your work is a really great way to go these days.
What is next for you?
I'm currently working in post-production on a feature length film that I directed over the fall. It's titled “American Swelling,” and it's a crime family drama about estranged siblings who are forced to reunite after the younger brother gets a concussion in a home burglary.
It's a really unique piece because we filmed it in one location and we filmed it in a series of very long, unbroken takes that are going to be stitched together. Very similar to one of my favorite films, Birdman.
So I'm in post-production on that, and I'm also currently working on writing the feature length version of “Where the Dog is Buried.” I'm excited to take that story in new directions as it expands to a longer form.
Are there any film recommendations that we should add to our watch list?
I'm trying to think if there are any hidden gems out there that I might know of, but I'll just have to go with my favorite movie for the time being, which is “Little Miss Sunshine.” I love how it blends drama and comedy with a dysfunctional family environment. That's one of my favorite genres of movie and it's one of my favorite movies of all time.
I would also recommend the early works and Martin McDonagh. So if you haven't seen “In Bruges” or “Seven Psychopaths,” those are hilarious dark comedies that are a lot of fun and they had a big influence on “Where the Dog is Buried” at the same time.