The Dogsitter

Duty calls, and it just keeps calling.

A comedy about Judy, who spends a hellish week dog sitting for an unscrupulous family. When the family demands that Judy euthanize their adorable Setter, Judy must decide where her duty lies.

Check Out the Trailer ⇩

Director’s Statement

When I wrote and directed “The Dogsitter,” I wanted to make myself laugh because I hadn’t laughed, truly laughed, in months. As I look back, I recognize that creating this film lifted me out of a depression. I felt the crushing expectation to be a “successful” adult, to swallow the pill of life and simply play along.

Strange as it seems, I didn’t realize that this movie helped me work out my entrance into adulthood, a place with many entry points and trap doors, but no exit except the ultimate one. The little guy tends to get blamed for most things, sometimes you get stuck in shitty situations, and girls poop. To laugh at this disenchantment is liberating.

We’ve all been Judy, a seemingly powerless person who recognizes problems but feels she must participate until she becomes culpable as well. In a way, we’ve also all been Steve, trying to shovel our pain and problems, our desire to escape illness and death, onto others. The problem is that this attitude becomes contagious. In the end, Judy emerges older and more experienced, but she will only gain wisdom by asking questions.

Creating this short film helped me discover that true wisdom comes from questioning what you think you know, and why you think you know it. It comes from facing head on the dark underbelly of reality, from looking in the mirror and asking yourself if you’re part of the problem. I hope this film encourages people to look for answers in hidden places, to question the truth of what they’re told, and, most importantly, to laugh.