At the LA Special Screening for the Strays film Director Josh Greengaum talks about what makes the film special and what it meant to have a group of celebrity cast members such as Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx in the same room together. Josh Greenbaum also talks about the plot for Strays and what kind of character star actor Will Forte is in the movie. Check it out.
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00:00 All right, great long the old long arm. Yeah, you're a pro
00:04 Great
00:09 I mean raunchy dogs. It just it it felt time
00:15 I mean, it's just like it's a genre that was sort of ready to be subverted
00:19 I feel like and and you know, I read this script and it was it had me laughing out loud
00:24 It was crazy, but it also had a lot of heart which I love
00:26 So it's a it's just kind of a amazing combination of both but it is not for children to be clear. Definitely not for children
00:32 Yeah, we started the film by shooting the dogs first we went to Atlanta we filmed the entire film
00:46 Without our dialogue and then afterwards I went into a you know
00:51 And a voiceover booth with Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx and Isla Fisher and rent Randall Park and just an unbelievable cast and you know
00:58 It did something kind of unique in the space, which is I got them all in the room together
01:01 Which and encouraged them to improvise and riff and when you have, you know
01:05 Heavy hitting comedy players like Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx
01:07 You want to let them run?
01:09 And you want them to be able to kind of interact and act opposite each other and it's for whatever reason that's not the norm
01:15 In those types of voiceover sessions and they were all game
01:18 I mean Jamie and Will have never been in a movie together. So this is their first movie and they have incredible chemistry as dogs
01:24 But yeah, it was it was so fun. I mean both of course shooting on set with the dogs was challenging
01:30 Is probably the nice way to say it but really fun
01:34 I mean as you can see like just having the energy of having dogs on set is really unique and then of course getting in
01:39 The voiceover booth with talent like that was like just a dream come true. I couldn't believe I had the cast I had
01:44 And then on set you had a very good boy, who was Will Forte, playing a very bad person. Why was he the right person for that role?
01:50 Well Will Forte secretly is a really terrible guy. That's why I cast him. No, Will it's so funny
01:56 Will Forte couldn't be playing more opposite
01:58 Who he really is in this character in Doug who is a terrible terrible human being who mistreats his incredibly sweet dog
02:06 But you know, that's acting, you know, that's the magic of acting
02:10 He's he's just he knew exactly how to play it in fine levels
02:14 Where he was the villain that we love to hate and that we want him to get his comeuppance because that's very important in this
02:21 Film if you played him too sweet, you might like no Reggie. Don't do it
02:26 Don't go on this journey to go bite off your mean owners dick
02:28 Which is the plot of our movie by the way, if I didn't say that earlier
02:32 yeah, it was he was Will Forte is just incredible and just like the sweetest man ever and
02:37 Playing playing very opposite his type
02:40 Yeah, I think the process of making this film has just forever made me look at every dog and give them a voice and think
02:53 About what they're saying now as a dog owner my entire life
02:57 And I think most dog owners could agree like we all do that
03:00 I think I've been adding a voice for my dogs in my life forever. And of course they were never PG
03:05 I mean, I don't know. Why why would your dog have like a
03:08 Censored himself, you know, they I think they talk like we do in private. We sometimes use bad words
03:14 We're very honest with each other. And so I think dogs in private do that as well. But yeah, it's forever
03:18 It's forever changed my my ability to look at a dog and not think what's it thinking right now?
03:24 Yeah, yeah, yeah
03:28 Yeah
03:33 I mean, they're very far afield from those wonderful characters of Beethoven and Lassie
03:40 But yeah
03:42 I don't know that would be a fun crossover like our four strays meeting those dogs and then trying to be very sweet and being
03:48 Like my god
03:50 Did you hear what that dog just said to me?
03:52 Yeah, but by the way, I love those films
03:54 I know Dan our writer like love homeward bound love mile notice as a kid cats and dogs like it is a fun genre
04:02 And you know, it did feel sort of ripe for subverting but to be honest that our films not really just a spoof
04:07 It's it's not a spoof at all was sort of my thing
04:09 We of course send up the genre of dog movies
04:11 But it really functions in the way I saw it was just an R-rated comedy where the lead actor just happened to be dogs
04:17 That's how I kind of saw it when I was making it
04:19 Yeah, I mean the film in a lot of ways it's actually about
04:28 Toxic relationships because Reggie is in a relationship that he's giving giving giving to Doug his owner and is getting nothing in return
04:35 And it takes some friends to come along and say hey
04:38 You're in a really bad situation right now get yourself out of it
04:42 And I think that was like really honestly when Dan the writer and I would have meetings we would talk about that was quite emotional
04:48 And it is an emotional story and the friendship is at the center. I thought about films like stand by me
04:53 You know the Goonies and like sort of friendship stories super bad and these stories were like your friends become your surrogate family
05:00 And in our case, you know, it's a surrogate family of very mismatched dogs of all different sizes and breeds
05:07 But they fit they work together and they support each other and they ultimately help Reggie kind of find his sense of self-worth in the end
05:14 It's very sweet, you know, which is I think what friends do when you're going through like a breakup, which is what Reggie's doing
05:19 Yeah
05:22 I
05:23 Mean I have a PFF. I have I have a few PFFs
05:26 They're gonna be here tonight at the premiere one of my PFFs is my brother who's right there
05:31 One of my PFFs is actually now I adopted one of the dogs from the film. Yes. I adopted the young puppy Reggie
05:39 Yep, it needed I found out this dog needed a home at the end of the film
05:43 I called my wife up. We already had a dog and I said hey
05:46 What do you think about bringing another dog home?
05:48 And she said absolutely if it doesn't have a home bring him home. So I my kids were thrilled. I have twin daughters
05:54 They named him Reggie
05:56 And now I have Will Ferrell running around my house at all times in my living room
06:00 Get out of here. You're amazing. Have the best night. Thank you so much. Oh good. Yay
06:06 Yeah, please
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