Kristine Bechard"},"music":{"wt":"Dean Falcone"},"cinematography":{"wt":"Gorman Bechard
Sarah Hajtol"},"editing":{"wt":"Gorman Bechard"},"distributor":{"wt":"MVD Entertainment"},"released":{"wt":"{{Film date|2015|02|14|Big Sky Documentary Film Festival}}"},"runtime":{"wt":"84 minutes"},"country":{"wt":"United States"},"language":{"wt":"English"},"budget":{"wt":""},"studio":{"wt":"What Were We Thinking Films"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwAg">2015 American film
A Dog Named Gucci | |
---|---|
Directed by | Gorman Bechard |
Produced by | Gorman Bechard Kristine Bechard |
Cinematography | Gorman Bechard Sarah Hajtol |
Edited by | Gorman Bechard |
Music by | Dean Falcone |
Production company | What Were We Thinking Films |
Distributed by | MVD Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
A Dog Named Gucci is a 2015 documentary film by Gorman Bechard that chronicles the story of an Alabama puppy set on fire, and the man who came to his rescue. The film made its American festival debut in February 2015 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. [1]
Spring Hill College Professor Doug James rescues an abused puppy and sets out on a mission to change the laws in Alabama on domestic animal abuse. Teaming with local legislators, it took James six years to see the "Gucci Bill" finally passed into law. [2]
Three other canine abuse cases feature: a rottweiler who was boarded in a kennel but starved to death, and two dogs who were burn victims, one of which was the first to test the new Gucci's Law. [3]
In Care2, Alicia Graef described the film, "It began back in 1994, when a 10-week-old puppy named Gucci was hung from a tree, beaten, doused in lighter fluid and set on fire by a group of men in Mobile, Alabama. College professor Doug James was nearby by pure chance and rushed to help. He would later become Gucci’s second owner and together the two would eventually bring about a historic change in Alabama’s animal cruelty laws through legislation honoring Gucci." [4]
Film screenings include the following:
On November 12, 2015, director Gorman Bechard was awarded the ASPCA Media Excellence Award for his work on A Dog Named Gucci. [12]
The end credits song from the film, "One Voice" written by Ruth Moody, features the talents of Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs, Lydia Loveless, Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, and Brian May. It was produced by Dean Falcone, who also wrote the film's score. One Voice was released on Record Store Day, April 16, 2016, with profits from the sale of the single going to benefit animal charities. [13]
Writing on The Movie Guys website, Ray Schillaci said, "Where many could have focused on the cruelty and the perpetrator, Bechard chooses to highlight the fight against such viciousness, the happiness and companionship that blossoms, and the bureaucratic struggles to achieve what is right. It’s a wonderful and beautiful testament to Gucci, his owner, and all other animals and the people that care for them." [14]
Joey Kennedy, in the Animal Advocates of Alabama website, said, "Perhaps what is so remarkable about the film is how well Bechard is able to convey Gucci's charming personality. Bechard never met the dog, yet viewers left the theater feeling as if they had known Gucci personally. It would have been easy for Bechard to slip into over-sentimentality, but he doesn't. The story itself, especially as told mostly by James, is powerful enough without gimmicks." [3]
Ralph Tribbey, in the DVD & Blu-Ray Release Report, called it "a heartfelt tale of love, kindness and a story of a man and his dog ... a man and his dog on a very special mission." [10]
Jonathan Tressler, in the News-Herald, called it, "shocking, yet inspirational." [15]
Amos Lassen called the film, "a positive and uplifting look at one victim who went on to become a hero. The story is one of triumph." [16]
Writing in Diversity Rules Magazine, Jim Koury called it, "timely and poignant". [17]
Henry Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed into law by the New York State Legislature. Bergh also prompted the formation, in 1874, of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC).
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."
Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters, rescue groups, or other pet owners. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.
A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in Avenson v. Zegart in 1984 as "a dog breeding operation in which the health of the mill’s dogs is disregarded to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits". They are cited as being a result of increased demand for household pets, especially after WWII. The Veterinary Medical Association of the Humane Society of the United States defines the main characteristics of a puppy mill as "emphasis on quantity over quality, indiscriminate breeding, continuous confinement, lack of human contact and environmental enrichment, poor husbandry, and minimal to no veterinary care."
Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, often to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged in barns or outdoor pits; in urban areas, fights are often staged in garages, basements, warehouses, alleyways, abandoned buildings, neighborhood playgrounds, or in the streets. Dog fights usually last until one dog is declared a winner, which occurs when one dog fails to scratch, dies, or jumps out of the pit. Sometimes dog fights end without declaring a winner; for instance, the dog's owner may call the fight.
An animal control service or animal control agency is an entity charged with responding to requests for help with animals, including wild animals, dangerous animals, and animals in distress. An individual who works for such an entity was once known as a dog catcher, but is generally now called an animal control officer, and may be an employee or a contractor – commonly employed by a municipality, county, shire, or other subnational government area.
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or suffering for specific achievements, such as killing animals for entertainment; cruelty to animals sometimes encompasses inflicting harm or suffering as an end in itself, referred to as zoosadism.
A backyard breeder is an amateur animal breeder whose breeding is considered substandard, with little or misguided effort towards ethical, selective breeding. Unlike puppy mills and other animal mill operations, backyard breeders breed on a small scale, usually at home with their own pets, and may be motivated by things such as monetary profit, curiosity, to gain new pets and/or working animals, or to show children "the miracle of birth".
In some countries there is an overpopulation of pets such as cats, dogs, and exotic animals. In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable. Euthanasia numbers have declined since the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized an estimated 12 to 20 million animals. Most humane societies, animal shelters and rescue groups urge animal caregivers to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent the births of unwanted and accidental litters that could contribute to this dynamic.
Animal Precinct is an American documentary reality television series that originally aired from June 26, 2001, to February 4, 2008, on Animal Planet. Set in New York City, the series follows the animal cruelty agents of the ASPCA's Humane Law Enforcement Division as they work as advocates for the five million pets and other animals in New York City, sometimes removing them from dangerous situations and pursuing arrests of those who have been accused of being cruel to animals.
Kathryn Jane Calder is a Canadian indie rock musician, who performs as a solo artist, and is a member of the bands The New Pornographers and Frontperson. She is a former member of Immaculate Machine. Calder started with The New Pornographers by filling in for Neko Case for live performances and was made a permanent member in 2006.
Dogs Trust, known until 2003 as the National Canine Defence League, is a British animal welfare charity and humane society which specialises in the well-being of dogs. It is the largest dog welfare charity in the United Kingdom, caring for over 15,000 animals each year. Dogs Trust's primary objective is to protect all dogs in the UK and elsewhere from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering. It focuses on the rehabilitation and rehoming of dogs which have been either abandoned or given up by their owners through rehoming services.
The ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division was the law enforcement arm of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) from 1866 until 2013, when the law enforcement division was disbanded. The agency enforced humane laws, and investigated cases of animal cruelty.
Color Me Obsessed is a 2011 American documentary film directed, edited and co-produced by Gorman Bechard about the alternative rock band the Replacements.
Lydia Loveless is an American alternative country singer-songwriter from Columbus, Ohio. Her music combines pop music, classic country, honky tonk, and punk rock.
Gorman Bechard is an American film director, screenwriter and novelist best known for his independent feature films Psychos in Love,Friends, and You Are Alone; his four rock documentaries Color Me Obsessed: A Film About the Replacements,What Did You Expect? The Archers of Loaf Live at Cat's Cradle,Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart, and Who is Lydia Loveless?; his animal welfare documentary A Dog Named Gucci; and his debut novel The Second Greatest Story Ever Told.
Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart is a 2013 documentary film by Gorman Bechard that chronicles the life of Hüsker Dü drummer/singer/songwriter Grant Hart. The film made its American festival debut in October 2013 at the Raindance Film Festival.
Susie's Law is a 2010 North Carolina state law which authorizes up to two years in jail for convicted perpetrators of cruelty to animals.
New Haven Documentary Film Festival is an annual documentary film festival held in New Haven, Connecticut, in early June. Screenings take place at Yale University’s Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, the New Haven Free Public Library and at the rock club Cafe Nine. NHdocs is a regional festival that showcases documentaries by filmmakers from the greater New Haven area and beyond. NHdocs was launched in 2014 when the film festival’s co-founders Charles Musser, Gorman Bechard, Jacob Bricca, and Lisa Molomot came together at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and decided to create a documentary film festival in New Haven that would “build a sense of community among documentary filmmakers from the greater New Haven area.” In 2014, the four filmmakers each showed one of their recently completed documentaries, three of which had just played at the Big Sky.
Who Is Lydia Loveless? is a 2016 documentary film by Gorman Bechard that chronicles the making of musician Lydia Loveless's 2016 album Real, as well as following her on the road and looking into what life is like for a band in the music industry. "I also wanted to look at stuff we normally don't see a lot of. What are the finances for a band like this? Where does the money go? Who gets the money? Is Spotify good? Is Spotify bad? How does piracy affect you? What about the fans? I really wanted to go into all of that for a band that can sell out 200- or 250-seat venues and bars but is still traveling in an old Ford van. A good night is when they have a couple of hotel rooms. No one is rolling in the dough, so to speak. So what is it at that point when you have amazing critical success and acclaim but you’re not there yet?" In October 2015, Bechard and his crew filmed a live Lydia Loveless concert at Skully's in her hometown of Columbus for the documentary.