Production manager Ralph Giordano sat down with A Voice for Lil Olive’s director Pete Schuermann (pictured) to ask him a few questions about the film, his connection to the issue of puppy mills, the power of documentaries, and more.
RG: When did you and your wife Ashley decide to make a film set out to expose puppy mills?
PS: Let’s see … almost three years now, although it started out as a different project called Rescued. At that point we were going to follow rescue teams as they go in and rescue dogs from puppy mills, follow a person involved in that movement to get the dogs out of harm’s way. A few things led to that idea falling apart. Number one … the woman who was leading the rescue team that we were going to follow started to receive threatening warnings from the various breeders she had to deal with … it was a tenuous relationship, not alienating the very people you are having a problem with.
RG: So the breeders would give the rescue teams permission to rescue the dogs that were no longer of use to them before they killed them, in exchange for them leaving the breeders alone to do what they do?
PS: Precisely … and having a documentary produced that exposes all of this … well, obviously they didn’t like that. Another thing that Ashley and I discovered as we were developing the project was that people were certainly in favor of a film exposing puppy mills, but there was also trepidation about following rescue teams.
RG: The subject matter is very intense.
PS: Too difficult a subject to watch the dogs in peril, and so on. So we decided to approach the story from a different angle. A kinder gentler way … And it was Lil Olive’s mom, Pam Horton, who reached out to us. She asked us, “What is it going to take to make this documentary?” So at that point we re-engaged. If we follow the Lil Olive story … about a dog who was rescued … we would have a more palatable and positive film about a very serious subject. Although, we fully intend to educate the public about everything they need to know about the issue.
This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Join us tomorrow and Thursday for Parts 2 and 3. Be a voice for Lil Olive and contribute to our Indiegogo campaign at tinyurl.com/lilolivefilm.