A word from Bill, writer / producer

In my 60s, I had an epiphany. I figured out the root of why I was so dog friendly. Why do I pay so much attention to dogs? Dogs of friends. Dogs I walk by. Dogs I see in the next car. Dogs across the street. I actually didn’t put this all together until after writing this film. The answer is found in the affection I have for them and it stems from my teenage years.

Just after turning 14 in the summer, my family moved to a new town. Then I started high school.  I knew no one and I was slow to make friends. But, actually, I was rescued that summer. Our family obtained a small dog from the shelter, a mutt we named Candy. She was my buddy. We chased the ball, went for walks, wrestled with her, and plenty of snuggling. She was my best friend.

In BOB’S BEST FRIENDS, the bond that Bob develops with his therapy dog (after a sudden illness) opens him up to many dog friendships.  Many dogs come into his life and make lasting impressions. With the help of the dogs, Bob is able to learn life lessons, forge ahead and recover.

Brief Film Synopsis

Our film celebrates the connection between dogs and humans in both humorous and poignant ways.

A lonely man, Bob (60s) develops a speech disorder following a stroke and his life turns around when he’s introduced to a therapy dog. Bob starts a dog sitting business. Through a series of adventures, mishaps, and conversations with his dog friends, Bob rediscovers life’s joys in this story of love, loss, and renewal.

What we need to make the movie

We will be shooting the movie in late summer / 2024.  Our budget to make the film is $80,500, divided as the following:

• 41.8% Production Cost
  • i.e. paying crew, renting equipment
• 27.8% Post Production
  • i.e. editing, composing
• 23.3% Cast
  • i.e. human and dog actors, animal trainer
• 7.1% Miscellaneous. 
  • i.e. food, locations, general

What You Get

On the right side of the screen are 10 perks that we have created for you if you would like to help get this film made. Click on the perk to see more detail.

I love these perks for this film and we made two of them dog specific. The Canine Tribute Bundle provides your departed dog’s name and picture to be listed in the ‘In Memory’ ending credits of the movie. The Canine Display Bundle includes everything in The Canine Tribute Bundle plus a 5×7 framed picture of your dog displayed in the lead character’s living room.

Other perks available are:

• Special Thanks Bundle
• Zoom Q&A with the cast and crew 
• be an extra in the film (4 can be claimed)
• Associate Producer credit
• autographed film slate (5 can be claimed)
• Co-Producer credit (4 can be claimed)
• Executive Producer (2 can be claimed)

The Executive Producer perk claims all of the previous perks plus 2 VIP tickets to the Chicago premiere as well as an overnight stay for one night in a 5 star hotel, a day on the set including a top Uber ride to the set and back, and EP credit in the Opening and Closing credits.

Clicking on these perks and then obtaining them helps us get the film made and provides great value to the donor.

We Have Momentum

We have confidence in our project’s success.

Solid Proof-of-Concept film

In 2018, we made a 12 minute short film called BOB AND EDGAR. This was the inspiration behind our feature film. That short film gave us the confidence that our concept could translate to a  feature.

BOB AND EDGAR was well received in film festivals and earned the following awards:

• Best Comedy Short, Manhattan Film Festival (2019)
• Audience Award, Canton Film Festival (2018)
• Best Actor (Short), Bill Redding, Twister Alley Film Festival
• Selected in 14+ other festivals

Winning Screenplay

Following that, I wrote a feature screenplay called BOB’S BEST FRIENDS. This script won the three top honors and was a finalist in a five other festivals. Top honors:

With the proof-of-concept short film successfully tested in front of live audiences and the feature film screenplay winning top awards, we are off to a great start!

Film Comparables

If you enjoyed the films below, there is a very good chance you will enjoy BOB’S BEST FRIENDS. As with our film, these films convey the love between humans and dogs.

The Team

Stephen Folker / Director, Cinematographer

Stephen is the Writer/Director of many shorts and features, with international distribution and dozens of film festival awards. In 2012, he wrote and directed his first feature film, TO SURVIVE about a group of survivors after the collapse of society. Stephen sold the film, and from there he wrote and directed several feature length comedy films. His drama LIFE AS A PEACH was a Quarterfinalist in the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship and a Quarterfinalist in the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. When Folker isn’t busy writing or planning for his next production, he is a recurring freelance cinematographer for the LAW & CRIME NETWORK.

Bill Redding / Writer, Producer, playing Bob

BOB’S BEST FRIENDS won the Best Drama Screenplay and the Screenplay of The Year at the Southern California International Film Festival (2023) and Grand Prize Winner at the First Frame International Film Festival (2023). Additionally a Semi-Finalist at the prestigious Flickers Rhode Island International Festival (2023) and a Finalist at 5 other festivals. Bill has been acting since his 20s and recently was a Co-Star on an episode of  Chicago PD.

Christine Mahaney / Animal Trainer

Christine, the owner of WHATADOG, LLC has been training animals for nearly 20 years. She has been the Animal Trainer for several recent popular TV shows, including Chicago Fire (2018-2021), Fargo (6 episodes in 2020), and Utopia (6 episodes in 2020). Christine recently trained Aaron Paul’s character’s dog in the movie Adam (2020) and she has trained animals in an additional 20+ movies and over a dozen TV series and shows. Christine’s training skills have been demonstrated in many TV commercials.

Risks & Challenges

Every film has unique risks and challenges. Our film’s obvious risk/challenge is working with dogs. To mitigate this, we’ve hired a very experienced animal trainer who will be prepping the dogs prior to being on set. Our dogs are not going to be asked to perform tricks. They are sitting on a couch, walking down the street, and playing in the backyard. And, just in case, we have dog understudies.

Locations can also be challenging. We have started early on this and have locked down locations for 80% of the scenes. The remaining 20% will be locked down by April 30th.

An experienced director has been hired and our shooting dates have been identified and secured.

Finally, we have an experienced lead actor for the Bob role. (me) I look forward to playing the role and have very fond memories of acting with the Labrador (Edgar) in the short film BOB AND EDGAR, where I was lucky to win Best Actor at the Twister Alley Film Festival.

Call to Action

On the right side of this Indiegogo page are the 10 Perks that are offered. You can click on them to see more detail. When you see one you like, please select the “Get This Perk”.

Other Ways You Can Help

Here are some other ways you can support us if you like our project.

• Tell your friends about our campaign. You can point them to our social media sites and email, mentioned below.
• Keep in touch with us by following us on our social media sites.
• Send us an email with any questions or to tell us a cute dog story.

Follow Us

• Follow Us at:
  • Faceboook: @Bobsbestfriends-themovie
  • Instagram:  @bobsbestfriendsmovie
• Questions:
  • Email: bobsbestfriendsmovie@gmail.com