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Appalachia, 1946: a seamstress welcomes home her tailor husband, only to find they are not the team they were. Trying to stitch back together their old life, time and time again it threatens to fall apart – with each of them pulling at the thread.

THE FILM

The deep, lonely, Appalachian Mountains provide the setting for a tense reunion between a husband, Teddy –turned unfruitfully idealistic after the war– and his wife, Marion –whose courage found in the years without him, has turned her quietly cunning. Their former relationship lies lost somewhere in the five years that have passed, but they share one common, unspoken, interest: to build a future.

In the heart of winter, their life and profession as tailors becomes complicated by newfound desires, talents, and a broken pair of glasses. Without sight, Teddy must carry on working, but this time without his wife. Meanwhile, Marion moves back to the familiar feeling of working without her husband –and more than familiar, it may be preferable, too.

As each find their paths lead away from the other, they are forced to confront that it’s not only life that has changed: they have changed.

The Making Of

Appalachian Dog was shot on an estimated $7,000 budget, over the course of ten days in the mountains of North Carolina. The film is produced by and featuring Purchase College Graduates, who have known and admired each others' work; to make ends meet, Colin Henning, Chad Hylton, Georgia Morgan, Hayleigh Hart Franklin, Brooke Elizabeth, and Aidan Macaluso all stayed and slept in the cabin that served as the primary filming location for Appalachian Dog.

At this place within the careers of these artists, the film was made possible through it being Non-Union. Strictly speaking, there were only two crew members on set: Macaluso (Cinematographer & Gaffer) and Hylton (Sound). Loosely speaking, the entire cast doubled as crew, when necessary. Macaluso was experienced in doubling as gaffer, and while that doubling may not be unusual in indie film, the doubling of every actor as P.A., or slate, or wardrobe assistant is more unorthodox. The schedule was often organized to give actors off-days, or half-days wherein they could assist with the physical production on set – something made possible through the pre-existing relationships of everyone involved, and their care for the material.

Although Non-Union, cast and crew were compensated. The set was structured with adhered-to meal times, and proper rest was provided between the end and start of each day to ensure a regulated and respectful schedule. "Appalachian Dog" is as much a practice in professionalism as it was a labor of love.