AFFINITY ULTIMA PETFOOD

Video1: TRAILER Video2: DANIELA & J Video3: BEATRICE & DEXTER Video4: RICCARDO & RUDY 3 real stories of 3 small sized dogs which demonstrated to their owners and to the community where they live that they are actually BIG INSIDE!I loved this branded documentary project since day one. I am a pet lover and I grew up with cats and dogs. There is something pure in the relationship between a pet and their owner, something that goes beyond love, synchronicity, mimesis. When the agency asked me to tell the stories of three small size dogs that demonstrated to their owners and to the community how big inside they were, I was just over the moon. We did a lot of researches and found many amazing stories but the three that we chose had something very authentic and unique. I was filming the first story in the area around Padua, Lombardy, Italy, while the corona virus started spreading right there. J is a wonderful Jack Russel; he has been the first small sized rescue dog to be operative in a rescue mission, probably the most horrible emergency Italy has experienced in the recent years: Amatrice's earthquake. The whole world contributed to help Amatrice and J's work has been truly special: thanks to his size and to his natural hunting skills he was able to find survivors defining the research area very quickly and very precisely so to make the firemen, rescuers, policemen and volunteers life so much easier. His work saved many lives. He also changed his owner's life and training methods. I love Jack Russel, I feel like we have a very similar attitude and stamina. The crew was scared, we were all scared while shooting in the middle of debris and rocks in a very emotionally overwhelming rubbles training camp. And I also felt guilty because I came from UK with Mik Allen too, my cinematographer, once again I brought into an extreme shooting situation (probably that's also why we love each other). After Padua we moved to Prato, where the biggest italian chinese community had already started self isolation days before we arrived. That’s when it started getting really surreal, all around a very subtle odd feeling filled the air and the looks of the people. Pharmacies started running out of disinfectants, masks and gloves. There we filmed Riccardo and Rudy's story: the little dog had been abandoned when he was one year old; Riccardo had recently broke up and had decided that the wanted a dog, a friend, a companion: they found each other really but what's really amazing is that one day Rudy saved a man's life, a jogger who had a heart attack. Rudy brought Riccardo there, Riccardo called the emergency and saved the guy's life. Three more minutes and he would have died. They became very good friends and I feel some kind of karma there, operating behind the scenes. We went back to MIlan then to shoot the last story and the covid-19 virus was already making the news. We were nervous, we really did not know what to do...Mik and I started wearing masks and constantly disinfecting our hands… In Milan we shot Dexter and Beatrice; she went through a very dark time experiencing a very bad depression and when Dexter broke into her life he slowly taught her how to trust people, how to enjoy the present moments, ho to stop that endless consuming internal dialogue that burns your brain and breaks your heart and prevents you from being able to catch air, to breath...if you went through mental health issues you know how dark it can get...it sounds naive to say but a dog, even the smallest and ugliest one, can change your perspective on things, in such a very strong, subtle and impactful way that you can't even realise it. Once we finished the very challenging shoot (each story has been shot in one day only, most of the locations had been sourced almost on the go, on set it took more time to set a scene up than for Mik and I to shoot it) the virus had taken the city...Mik was lucky to get on a flight after a cancellation and go back to his dog, Frank, and his wife Kat; I decided to stay in Milan because of the post production...we had to edit, grade...and James O'Connell, my wonderful music and sound composer, he was already working in UK on some elegant and beautiful demos...the city locked down then and I felt like I had to stay there. I've been self isolating for I can't tell you how many days now...thank God, Buddha, Mohammed my cat, Superman, and my girl, Lucy, are with me here. A four legged pet's presence is life changing; especially these days of quarantine and self isolation having a pet makes my mood so much lighter I could not imagine how I would cope without. Agency: PROVIDENCE - HAVAS Deputy Executive Creative Directors: Aureliano Fontana, Bruno Vohwinkel Production Company: BASEMENT, Milan Executive Producer: Francesco Crespi Director: Frankie Caradonna Cinematographer: Mik Allen Music & Sound: James O’Connell Editor: Matteo Motzo Colorist: Daniel Palluca