Wienerblog: The Official Blog of "Wiener Takes All: A Dogumentary"

Two Screenings in the next week, more screenings added to the list

2008-07-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

More news from the road. First up is Seattle, where our recent screenings went very very well. We sold out both screenings (opposite the Seattle Int'l Film Fest) and had a third show added at the last minute. The reviews and public outpouring of support was overwhelming to say the least.

We're running ragged here trying to get our ducks lined up as a series of screenings approach. This Tuesday (the 29th) Wiener screens at the Woods Hole Film Festival in Cape Cod. We're in the 500 seat theater so if you are in the area please come help us fill the place up!

Woods Hole Film Festival - July 29th @ 7pm

The following Sunday (August 3rd), we screen in San Diego as a fundraiser for Classics 4 Kids, a non-profit music education charity that M.E. our producer, volunteers with.

We're also gearing up for screenings at:

Atlanta DocuFest (October 21st)

Rome Int'l Film Festival (Georgia) - September 7th

We're also heading to the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Arkansas), and the Berea (Ohio) Oktoberfest in October. We're also setting up a series of screenings with local dachshund clubs and dog rescue groups around the country to host fundraising events (tentative locations are New York City, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, College Station Texas, Chicago, Portland, and Toronto). As those are firmed up we'll post the details here. Of course, the best place to get the most up to date list of screenings is here.

Just a final note, Shane will be on the San Diego Fox affiliate (Channel 5 as of August 1st) on Monday, August 4th on the 8-9am morning show segment. There will also be a profile of Wiener on Saturday, August 2nd in the evening newscast, although we don't have a firm time yet.

Ok that's all! See you all soon!
Shane

Phoenix "Race"

2008-06-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Anybody who has gone to a wiener dog race knows that not all races feature the fast and the furriest. Some of the more inexperienced racers sometimes...well, let's just let the video speak for itself...

Poster Child

2008-06-07T17:02:00.001-07:00

We just heard that we sold out our first screening at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival yesterday ! The film received some great press in Seattle this week; Kevin Nibur's spectacular photo was apparently featured prominently in some large papers. That doesn't surprise me one bit. It's a fantastic shot - I believe one of the best sports photography shots ever. And I'm not just saying that - it is a photograph that has captivated me - and I'm sure thousand of others by now.

The 2003 "incident" - notice the third set of ears - which belong to the eventual winner Pretzel
(photo copyright Kevin Nibur)

There's a lot of backstory to this picture. Noodles is being bumped out of contention of a nation championship race - a race he had just won moments ago but was now being re-run. The look of despair in Noodles' eyes is apparent, and the look in Buddy's eyes is one of crazed glee and hunger for victory. Captured legs mid-flight - ears flopping - eyes focused - that's a one in a million photo.

I believe our poster design has also had a great part of our success. The kudos for that go out to graphic designer David Ortiz, who went through innumerable revisions - for very little pay - to help us out. Man did he deliver. If you have a branding project this is the go to guy. Notice how the poster image is flipped and rotated a bit. David did that to give the image a sort of 3D effect - and it works well!

I was truly blessed to have these guys as part of my dedicated team.

Squirty's photoshoot

2008-06-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

When we were in Phoenix we bumped into Squirty, the fast racer that would eventually go to the nationals to represent Phoenix. He looked so cute I wanted to grab a couple of photos of him. I soon realized that wiener dogs are not the easiest to photograph, although we finally did get a few good pics (after several minutes of trying).

Seattle and Cape Cod up next!

2008-05-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

Wiener's romp across America continues! We've just finished screening at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for a week - and it kicked off with a sold out rooftop party. We'll be uploading pics as soon as we get them. A couple weeks before that was a screening at Athens International where we got honorable mention in the feature documentary category.

June sees Wiener hit Seattle via STIFF, and now our July dance card is starting to fill as we just received information that we will be screening at Cape Cod's famous Woods Hole Film Festival. We're really excited, and will definitely be attending.

We're not sure if we'll be in Seattle with the film, but at least one of the stars will be - so if you can, drop by and soak in some of the glory that is the wiener racing phenom Hailey Tyo.

That's all for now - we'll post more news when we get it. Thanks for checking in!

Shane

Oklahoma City This Week

2008-05-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

Wiener hits Oklahoma City this week (Thurs, May 15- Sunday, May 18) with six screenings at the OKC Museum of Art. Thursday evening's Oklahoma premiere will be preceded by a rooftop terrace party featuring, yup, cocktail wieners (plus live music, food, and full bar). Some of the local wiener racing celebrities will also be in attendance, so if you can make it you should - it sounds like an awesome time!

For more info go to http://www.okcmoa.com/film

A&E is a go, plus we add Seattle to our upcoming cities

2008-04-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, well there's no confusion now. We are an official selection for the A&E IndieFilm Spotlight competition. In the coming weeks Wiener's going to be profiled on the network and their website. When we get more specifics we'll post them here.

Wiener's also on its way to Seattle this June. We'll be screening as part of the Seattle True Independent Film Festival. Dates are TBD.

Check back soon!

New Jersey, A&E, and Arizona.

2008-04-02T21:07:00.001-07:00

Well last one first. The Tucson screening is confirmed. April 24th, at 7:30pm, Wiener will screen at La Placita Village Cinema (Broadway Blvd & Church Ave) as part of the Arizona International Film Festival. Quite a few of our stars are going to be in attendance so if you can make the screening please do - you'll be in for a treat. This is an outdoor venue, so a lot of people will be bringing their dogs.

People are asking me about the A&E IndieFilm Spotlight thing. I've received some clarification on this - we're actually one of a very few films at the Palm Beach Int'l Film Festival selected for this competition, but the winner only enters a pool of several other films (from 3 other fests) - one of which will have its trailer aired on A&E. Five others will be profiled on the network. So exciting to be nominated, but unfortunately - we're not a lock for any screen time yet. We'll be sure to let you know if/when we hit the cable channel's airwaves.

Last but not least, this weekend is our Northeast US premiere at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park, NJ. We screen at 1:15pm at the Berkeley #1 (1401 Ocean Ave). This will also be a fundraiser for the local humane society, so be sure to show your support if you are in the neighborhood.

More soon!
Shane

Springtime Wiener Action

2008-03-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

What a crazy month! Wiener's springtime screening slate is filling up bigtime.

We just found out yesterday that we will be playing the 35th Athens International Film and Video Festival. This long running fest is a very prestigious stop on the circuit, and we're very thrilled to have been picked.

We've also been selected by the Palm Beach International Film Festival programmers for the A&E IndieFilm Spotlight competition, which means you might see clips from Wiener on a TV screen near you very soon. We'll let you know as soon as we know more.

Friday, April 5th has us in New Jersey at the Garden State Film Festival, followed the following Saturday (April 11) at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. We might be screening the following week in Tucson, and then on Saturday, April 19 we have our Los Angeles premiere at the Los Angeles United Film Festival.

Then in May, a very exciting event; we're the featured film at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Six screenings with a kickoff rooftop cocktail party on opening night means we're really jazzed about this stop on the circuit.

So April and May are going to see us bouncing around the country. Hopefully we'll see you along our journey!

Shane

Eat a wiener, save on Wiener!

2008-02-21T18:55:00.001-08:00

This is very cool. If you plan on seeing Wiener Takes All at the upcoming Lake County Film Fest, be sure to first drop by the superbly named hotdog restaurant "Wiener Take All" (1117 Weiland Road, Buffalo Grove) and get one of their famous chardogs. Be sure to keep your receipt - because it will be worth $1 off admission at the screening!

The hotdog joint is well reviewed, and is apparently one of Chicago's best chardog places

READ ABOUT THE RESTAURANT

I'm sold! I'll be there next weekend!

Shane

Laguna Beach Film Society Pix

2008-02-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

We finally have some pictures from the Laguna Beach Film Society screening in January. It was a blast and the film was really well received. Our thanks to Keiko and company for making our time in Laguna Beach so memorable.

Chicagoland Here We Come!

2008-02-19T22:03:00.001-08:00

We're coming to the suburbs of Chicago next weekend for the Lake County Film Festival. We screen Saturday, March 1 @ 2:30 and Sunday @ 3:40. Get tickets HERE.

Apparently the word has gone out through many different area dachshund groups, so we are expecting full houses. If you want to attend be sure to get a ticket online since day of screening tix may be hard to come by.

We'll be making the trip to Lake County, so if you make it out to the screening be sure to let us know!

Up next, the Garden State and Los Angeles in April!

Shane

SoCal in Friday and Illinois in February

2008-01-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for this Friday's Laguna Film Society screening. Show starts at 7pm sharp at the Forum Theatre. Tickets are $15. Email Joanne Story to RSVP at jstory@lagunaartmuseum.org.

We also got word that we're going to be screening at the Lake County Film Festival in February over the leap weekend. For more details go to the official website. We're also waiting to hear from a few more festivals, but it's such a commitment of time and money that we may very well stop submitting and relax now that the film is done.

I'll be back soon with more news on Wiener...

Shane

Laguna Beach Here We Come!

2007-12-10T23:43:00.000-08:00

Good lord is it hard to make and sell a movie. The sheer hours of energy a film consumes is staggering. The good news is that it's a learning process. The bad news is it's a learning process. Well at least I know a million things not to do next time around. Okay maybe not a million - more like 500,000...

I've been very lucky so far - we've gotten great press - a review in Variety, a front page review on the Chronicle Herald (color), national radio coverage, numerous TV and print articles - most of them very positive about the film. That's a testament to my PR folks at BAT Entertainment as well as the dedicated media people at the various fests (Brie Rhieben and Pam Todd at the Atlantic Film Festival in particular, and mega kudos to Chris Wiggum in San Francisco for snagging Variety).

Now that we have some big fests under our belt and a sizable press kit, we've headed into the wonderful world of film sales.

Wow.

To say this is a sleazy world, let's just say I've already met more snakes and weasels than I would at a mongoose picnic. Luckily we've had some people around to guide us through the muck, and things are looking up. Can't say much more than that for now - but expect an announcement soon...

We're not finished with the festival circuit by any means. We're kicking off the new year with a very cool screening at the Laguna Art Museum on Jan 11th, as the opening film for their 2008 documentary film series. Along with Tribeca winner "The Cats of Mirikitani" we'll be part of a series called "The Truth About Cats and Dogs." More details as the screening date approaches.

We'll know more about other festival screenings in a few weeks. The nice thing is that now we've had exposure festivals are soliciting us to send screeners. That's a nice change lol.

Anyway there will be more news coming soon - I promise.

Later
Shane

Wiener makes Variety

2007-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Read the review at Variety.com

What can I say - I'm shocked. Our little wiener dog documentary got reviewed in Variety!!! For an indie film that's pretty rare - and our phone's been ringing off the hook and our email box has been flooded. Could it be that somebody out there actually realizes there's a huge audience of dog lovers who would love this film? We'll see!

BendFilm is a Blast!

2007-10-16T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well the fests keep getting better and better! Bend, Oregon is this tiny, ultra-hip, very expensive yet very artsy enclave smack dab in the middle of the state, and boy do they know how to throw a film fest. I can see why it's getting such a buzz in the film world - the awards ceremony itself was a jaw dropper.

Again we had sold out shows. Our first was at a small theatre, again around 11 on a Friday, and again no problem. A lot of people were taking extra long lunches to catch the film.

Lineup at our first screening

The first screening

Our second screening at the much bigger theatre went just as well. Again, another sellout crowd (festival people on site told us we were the only ones to fully sell out the theatre!). Baby Luv made the trip up to Bend, and as always stole the show.

Baby Luv greets her fans

Lineup for the second screening

On a side note I was especially surprised we got picked for this - we submitted after the deadline and asked if we could get a price break on the submission - and then asked if we could pay with a post-dated check!!! Needless to say I had written our chances off - but Erik Jambor took a chance and are we ever glad that we did!

It's now the end of the festival season unless we get into Fort Lauderdale - which I'm pretty sure isn't going to happen (film snobs!!!). That's it for this year. Now we're in sales mode as well as recovery mode. Travelling this much really takes a lot out of you. We'll keep you posted as events unfold!

Shane

US Premiere a Dog Gone Success!

2007-10-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

Another festival, another round of sell outs! We opened in San Francisco during the famous Love Parade. Again we figured we were screwed crowd wise. Er, not so much. Ticket demand was so big we sold out our initial venue and got moved to the larger theatre - with over 110 attending (over twice the capacity of the first theatre).

The following night we sold out the large theatre, and the San Francisco DocFest people decided to add two more screenings because of the demand. Again we sold out the smaller venue both times and were moved to the big theatre.

Baby Luv walks the red carpet.

Baby Luv and Bruno made it up to the premiere which was great - they stole the show as they walked the red carpet (more pictures and video coming soon!).

We're now getting ready for our next screening tomorrow at the very hip BendFilm festival in Bend Oregon. If you're in the neck of the woods please come by and catch the film and introduce yourself to us. We gotta get some sleep - our flight leaves at 6am out of LAX so we need to be on the road a 3. Yuck!

Shane

Atlantic Film Fest Premiere a resounding success!

2007-09-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wow wow wow. What can I say. I haven't been to Halifax in years, but returning for our world premiere in my old hometown (and home of my production company) was unbelievable. From a sellout crowd to awesome films to great parties, it was a blast. I can't recommend this festival enough. I had forgotten how Maritimers like to party.

It started out with our screening which was scheduled Sunday at noon. I was convinced this was going to be a death slot. Who the hell would want to come out to see our wiener dog movie at noon on a Sunday?

Apparently a lot! We sold out the largest venue, and left a lot of people out in the cold.

Sorry - sold out!!!

There was a lineup upstairs and downstairs in the theatre! Great audience response, and fantastic coverage in the local press what more could we have asked for? I was able to hool up with lots of great filmmakers and saw some great films.

My favourites:

End of The Line (Maurice Devereaux)
Portage (Matt Miller and Sascha Drews)

We're exhausted, but don't have much time to recuperate. In a week we're off to our US premiere at the San Francisco Documentary Festival. Hope to see you there!

World Premiere Announced

2007-09-02T17:08:00.001-07:00

We're pleased to announce our world premiere will be Sunday, September 16th as part of the Atlantic Film Festival

If you're in town please be sure to drop us a line and say hello!

Release the hounds!

2007-08-15T02:15:00.002-07:00

The past few weeks have been extremely hectic as we prepare for our world and US premieres. That's right - we found out we've been accepted to a major festival in Canada (that we can't yet name because of a press embargo), as well as the San Francisco Documentary Festival!

We're really jazzed - although now the dung hits the proverbial fan; there's no more slacking around - we've got a firm deadline that we need to meet. Now we need to create press kits, arrange promotional events, get hotels and flights set away, and oh yes, finish every edit I need (or want to make). The pile of work is daunting but yet with the festivals fast approaching it's also kind of exhilarating.

I'm trying to get som Anne Roger Clark footage together as well as video of an interview I did with the head of the Olympic Drug Lab at UCLA, Dr. Don Catlin. With all the doping stuff in the news I gotta get this out onto the web.

Okay, it's 2:23 in the morning - I need to do some more pre-festival work, then grab a couple hours sleep before I head into the day job. What a life.

I wouldn't change it for anything...

Iris Love Speaks on the Doxie Color Issue

2007-07-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here's the third and final installment of our new video releases featuring New York socialite, Guggenheim heiress, and dachshund world personality Iris Love. Never afraid to voice her opinion, Iris speaks her mind about the current piebald/double-dapple and mini versus standard controversies in the doxie world.

Iris Love on The Dachshund "Color" Issue and the "Mini/Standard" Controversy

Come back soon! We'll have more videos soon!

Iris' Healing Wiener

2007-07-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Okay as promised here are more Iris videos.

Here, NYC socialite and patron saint to the dachshund world Iris Love tells an inspiring story about the tremendous healing power of therapy dogs. It's a refrain we heard again and again on our travels. Check it out.

Iris Love talks about her therapy dog Phoebe.

Iris Video #1

2007-07-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Yes, I know, I haven't updated the blog or the site. Getting the doc finished and out to fests has been consuming my life. Ongoing serious health issues with Marion and myself have also been contributing to the backslide, and the quarterly RAID failure was pretty much the coup de grace.

But today I more than make up for it. I've put up 18 and a half minutes of out takes
from my interview with Iris Love.

If you don't know who Iris is, you've got to get to know her; Guggenheim heiress, archaeologist, historian, and patron saint to the dachshund world, Iris is a heavy hitter in the doxie world, and landing an interview with her was no mean feat. So without any further delay here ya go with interview #1.

Iris On The History Of Dachshunds

Where We Stand

2007-05-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy month. We finally nailed down the final cut, got the posters ordered, and received some promising news. The programmers from the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival have selected Wiener Takes All and 19 other films as finalists for the Rockefeller Plaza Film Series, to be held in June. They will pick 4 films from the 20, so we're by no means assuming we're in, but we're happy just to have received the nod from the programmers.

We're busy culling video from the outtakes to put up on our Veoh channel, and hope to have several clips up by this weekend.

Gotta head back to the edit suite. TTYL!

Shane

Good news

2007-03-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

We just got word from Todd Kroeker that Blazer has indeed still alive, and that after going to another vet was successfully treated for a condition that another vet was going to euthanize him for. A very important lesson here - whenever you get a critical diagnosis, always get a second opinion! It may save your dog's life.

Week of Animal Deaths

2007-03-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

What a terrible week. First our neighbor's cat Hannibal got run over right in front of the house. I was the one that had to tell his owner. Worst of all, I'm pretty sure Hannibal was on his way to visit me. Now tonight I've heard from Todd Kroeker (of Todd and Poppy fame) that Blazer is being put down this evening. Such sad times. Blazer had a ruptured disc in his back, which is a very common ailment to dachshunds. At least he won't be in pain.

Hannibal and Blazer, I wish you well on your journey. You will be missed.

Los Al a No Go?

2006-06-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

June 29 - What a day! Orlando still hasn't gotten back to me. He usually
responds right away. I've left him three messages in 2 weeks and
he hasn't responded. This makes me worried - I think WienerSchnitzel's
PR goons might have put the squeeze on the track and we are
now persona non grata - just like in NYC.

This is without a doubt the most surreal point in my life. Not
in a million years would I ever have believed you if you'd told
me at this point in my life I would be reduced to fighting
battles in order to complete a movie about wiener dog racing.
That people would actively try and obstruct me over the film
as well!!

I realized last night that I need to get clearance from the actors in the Miller
Lite commercial - from '93!!! Trying to find these guys is like
a needle in a haystack. I called SAG and asked if they have any way
of finding out who they are - nope. I then called Miller
Brewing (snake eyes again), and finally my contact at Leo
Burnett Agency's archives - Ilana Pergam. She is the person
who found the initial advertisement for me - buried deep in
the archives. At first she wasn't hopeful but then I got an
email:

Dear Shane, My contact in Broadcast Business thinks
he may have located the box containing records on the Miller
Lite "Wiener Dog Winternationals" spot from 1993. It is
currently at an off-site warehouse and will have to be
located and delivered to me. I'll look through it to try to
find what you need.

Wish me luck!
All the best,
Ilana

How's that for luck!!! Less than 5 hours after I start looking
I might have located them! Cool!

Final bit of good news - Dr. Don Catlin, the top dog of USADA
and Olympic anti-doping agreed to an interview with me! Cool! We're going to
talk about the doping controversy that's developing in my story,
as well as doping in sports (phyisiological and psychological
components). I'm really excited. This is the guy who cracked
the Balco steroid case wide open.

Pornographic minds?

2006-06-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I decided to put up a new section of our website as a place for people to send post their dachshund pictures and bios. Being the comedian, I decided to name the section "Show Us Your Wiener". Kinda cute. The following morning I awoke to 3 unsubscribes in my mailbox - people requesting to be taken off my list. This was very odd, especially since we've never lost anyone from our mailing list before, so 3 in one day was bizarre.

As I opened each email I was treated to 3 gems like "I was under the assumption that this was a family oriented project. I am saddened and dismayed that you felt you had to stoop to sexual inuendo in order to attract an audience. Please remove me from your mailing list."

Huh?

Are people really that anal retentive that they are offended by a little tongue in cheek? Okay maybe a lot of tongue in cheek, but still... I don't know how these people can navigate the Internet without going off their rocker there's so much overt sexual content out there. I must get a dozen spams a week that are so graphic they'd make Larry Flynt blush. I don't unsubscribe from the net! I move on. I am not going to water down my project to be some vanilla pap to please everyone. So to the three people who were so offended by "Show us your wiener", don't let the door hit you on the ass.

On second thought, please do.

Shane

Hounds, Hounds, Everywhere

2006-05-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Filmed one of the last segments for Wiener today. Charles Baris, international dachshund breed judge, and head of the Knickerbocker Dachshund Club, was up in San Juan Capistrano. We last met at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in NYC last year, and he was great on camera. At the time he refused to comment on the double dapple "scandal", and told me to ask him again in a year. Well, it's a year, so we headed up to get his stance on film once and for all.

We're so close to finished that I can taste it...

Deep In The Heart of Texas

2006-04-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

For the past few days we've been in Buda, Texas for the world's largest 2-day wiener dog race, sponsored by the local Lion's club. We wanted to meet up with America's winningest Wiener, Sammy, from Florida, as well as Texas heavyweight and 3-time Buda champ Copper.

Copper becomes four time Buda Champ

As expected, both made it to the final race, with Copper winning in a convincing manner. Over 500 dogs lined up at the line in the largest wiener race in America. We got tons of great footage - now the challenge is in compressing two days down to five minutes. Ugh.

It's All Over But The Crying

2005-12-29T23:57:00.000-08:00

The wiener national finals were today, and yes, one of the dogs we were following won it all!!!

Talk about unbelievable luck. When we set out shooting this doc, we hoped that at least one of our dogs would make it to the end. To have dreamed we'd have 4 dogs make the finals, and one take it all would have been too much to ask for. But it happened.

Bruno gives his mom a pre-race good luck kiss

We've got great footage of the races (7 cameras total, including 1 steadicam and 1 platform cam) - I just looked at the dailies and it looks amazing. I can't wait to start cutting this. We now have the story - now we need to work backwards and fit the footage in. At last count we have 130+ hours of footage to weed through. This is going to take a while...

Bounced from the party...

2005-12-28T23:53:00.000-08:00

What a difference a year makes. Exactly a year ago we were invited by Wienerschnitzel to attend the pre-race party, where we filmed interviews and hobnobbed with the "who's who" of West coast wiener racing.

This year we weren't so welcomed.

In fact, Wienerschnitzel had me bounced at the door. They refused to speak to me on camera, or even grant me an off-camera interview. What are they afraid of? What are they hiding? Beats me, but it makes for entertaining B-roll...

Tomorrow are the national finals. We have defending champ Noodles, Heidi Roo, Bruno, and Vinny Barbarino in the finals. Four out of the 13 dogs are ones we've been following for the past year. I have a feeling either Noodles or Hailey will take it all. Anybody want to make a wager with me?

Vinny Makes The Cut

2005-11-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, wow, wow.

Yet another of our dogs has made it to the national finals - barely. Tucson's Vinny Barbarino *squeaked* by in his first race, stopping at the beginning to sniff another dog's butt before making a beeline to the finish. The following night he did the same thing - doing a full 360, before taking off for the finish line, his jersey falling off between his legs. His performance was so breathtaking that it was #5 of ESPN's "Play of the Day" countdown.

That means we now have 3 dogs in the national finals, and the odds are slowly tilting significantly towards our favor. As it stands, 3/13 finalists will be dogs we've been following over the past year. I like those odds.

Vinny's got tremendous speed. Sadly he has the attention span of a fruit fly. Will he prevail this December? It's anybody's guess.

Big Apple Wieners

2005-10-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

We're in NYC for the annual Doxtoberfest. This is the day when hundreds of doxies from across New York City meet up in Washington Square Park.

This pimpin' wiener takes a break
at Washington Square Park

It truly is a sight to behold. It's one of two days in the year when dachshunds take over the park - and undoubtedly the day that creates the most smiles in the area.

Legends of Advertising

2005-09-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a trip to Ohio and Illinois. In Findlay, Ohio we filmed the National Dachshund Races - an annual event that draws 200+ dogs from surrounding states for the title of fastest wiener in the Northeast.

After that we headed to Hinsdale, Illinois, where we interviewed Terry Baker and Dan Heagy, two retired ad execs who were the creators of the famous Miller Lite wiener dog racing ad that Ad Age has listed as one of the top ten advertising campaigns in history. It's pretty funny listening to these two guys - you can see why they were behind so many fun campaigns - their sense of humor is pretty warped.

Terry and Dan - advertising legends

Now I'm back in California and relaxing. To date I've travelled over 8,000 miles - and we're only 2/3 of the way through our shoots. I guess I should have tried to get an airline to sponsor me...

Noodles makes it!!!

2005-09-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Wow! We now have two dogs in the national finals this December. Tonight Noodles lived up to his reputation and placed second in the qualifiers, meaning he secured a berth to the championships.

Noodles and 9 month old phenom
Kelly advance to the finals

I'm so excited! One dog in the finals was great - two is even better. We now have a 2/13 chance of one of our dogs winning it all. You gotta love it! Lady Luck is definitely on our side.

Interview With A Giant

2005-09-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today we shot an interview with Ron and Betty Rowland, and Baron, considered by most to be the greatest racing wiener dog in the history of the sport. A *very* large standard doxie, Baron dwarfs most other dachshunds, which undoubtedly helped with his victories, but as Ron says, it's the winning spirit that Baron has that drove him to win.

Baron was so successful that race organizers began to change rules and eventually banned him from the races. This was one of my favorite interviews and I can't wait to get into the edit suite to cut it.

Doping and wiener dogs

2005-09-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we heard allegations of doping within the wiener dog racing community, so we decided to head up to the UCLA Olympic Drug Testing Lab to do an interview with the world's leading expert on doping on sports - Dr. Don Caitlin. He was not an easy guy to get access to, so we were pleasantly surprised when he accepted our invitation.

The "big dog" in the world of anti-doping

We're going to post his interview online for people to watch - he's got some interesting things to say on doping in sports.

Hailey gets cut...

2005-09-04T11:15:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Phoenix. What a hellish trip. We encountered one of Arizona's famous thunderstorms on our way in, and ended up driving the final 50 miles into Phoenix at an average of 15 mph. We also encountered a horrific traffic accident. Being an ex-firefighter, I stopped to help and gave first aid to the driver until the fire department arrived. After we got the driver extricated and airlifted out, I asked my cameraman Joe if he had gotten any of it on film. Uh, no... Grrrrr.

Luckily the rain held off for the races at the Phoenix Greyhound Park. Our local dog, Hailey, was in the lead in the first race, when she was attacked by the dog behind her. She still placed second, and advanced to the final race of the day, but was again attacked, and this time stopped to retaliate. Sadly, she didn't win - and was controversially knocked out.

Hailey seems down after her controversial loss

The ride back was less eventful, but nonetheless, unpleasant. The radiator started acting up, so we needed to have the heater on full blast as we drove through the desert to keep the car from overheating. Yuck!

I'm going to spend the day bathing in ice cubes to see if I can get my core body temperature back to a health 102 degrees...

San Diego - Round One

2005-08-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day. Three of our dogs made it to the next round of qualifiers in San Diego. Bo, Blitzen, and defending champ Noodles, all kicked butt. Noodles day was a particular cliff-hanger for us. Initially denied entry at Los Al, Noodles made a surprise appearance in San Diego today, deciding to try to defend his title. His first few races were less than impressive - other dogs were attacking him, and as the day drew on, his times got slower and slower. Lo and behold, in the last race of the day, after having run 5 races, Noodles finally got it right - and got the fastest time of the day - qualifying for the next round by the skin of his teeth. To say I was sweating bullets would be an understatement.

Baby Luv out of contention

Sadly, Baby Luv was once again denied, being bumped out of contention in the second last race of the day, despite having posted one of the fastest times of the day earlier.

So as things stand now, we have Heidi Roo qualified for the finals, and three dogs qualified for the San Diego final qualifiers. If things keep going this well, we might have four or five dogs in the finals this December. Could the national title holder end up being one of those dogs? I can only hope...

Old World Races

2005-07-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Old World German Village in Huntington Beach, CA., host to monthly wiener dog races. Most of the serious Wiener Nationals challengers race there regularly to gauge their opponents and stretch their legs. Today we spotted Todd and Poppy Kroeker, there with their dogs Bo, Bruno, blazer, and Peanut. Baby Luv was also there - and all digs posted blazing times.

Hometown favorite Stretch blazes
to victory at Old World

If the races today were any indicators, we're going to have more than one of our dogs show up that the Wiener Nats finals in December. The San Diego qualifiers are next month, and Baby Luv and the Kroekers will be running there. I'd put money on all of them advancing to the final SD qualifiers. Time will tell.

Los Alamitos Wrap-Up

2005-07-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Chalk up our first success! Today at Orange County's Los Alamitos Race Track, Heidi Roo, one of the 6 dogs we are following made it to the finals this December in a convincing manner.

Heidi Roo & coach Stacy Smith

After having placed second twice to defending champion Noodles, Heidi finally won Los Al. The fact that Noodles was barred from participating from the contest notwithstanding, Heidi's speed was amazing - her races weren't even close. We know that we have at least one dog that will be running in December's finals - so that's one worry that I can wipe from the slate. Next stop is Phoenix where we'll see if Hailey can repeat her win from last year. My fingers are crossed.

Congrats to Heidi Roo - she's going to be a real contender this December.

Remembering a champion

2005-06-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

We met with Bruce and Kathy Rice of Vista today. They are the proud owners of Blitzen, and of the late champion Pretzel, who died suddenly of an immune disorder last December, just weeks before the Wiener Nationals.

The Rice's are obviously still hurting, and they gave us an emotional interview recounting Pretzel's racing career. We got to see all the many awards he won, as well as many pictures of him with other celebrities.

Pretzel's little brother Blitzen is being prepped to take his place, and if his morning time split is any indication, he's a real threat to win this year. I have no doubt he'll make it to the final selection this fall in San Diego.

Pretzel's rivalry with Noodles was one of the wiener racing world's more famous rivalries. Maybe we'll soon be hearing about the Noodles Blitzen Blowout...

Orlando and Eddie Haskell

2005-06-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

We did two fun interviews today.

The first was with Orlando Gutierrez of the Los Alamitos Raceway. Orlando runs the largest wiener dog race in America - average crowds of 10,500 pack his place every year as 64 dogs race for 2 spots at the national championships.

Orlando spoke to us about some of the champions that have made their mark at Los Al - Noodles, Pretzel, and Baron. Baron was his (and our) pick as the most dominant wiener dog to race in the west.

Next we headed down the road to meet up with actor Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell in the old "Leave it to Beaver" show. Ken's dog Indiana Jones runs at Los Al, although last year he didn't do so well (he ran back into the starting gate). This year things might be different. Indiana runs like greased lightning, and he seems to have gotten over his fears. If I was a betting man I'd put money on Indiana making the final cut this summer...

The Difficult Questions

2005-05-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

I dug this up this morning - it's most of the text of the email I sent to Wienerschnitzel's PR people, trying to get an interview with the VP of Marketing. They had demanded I send a copy of any questions I would be asking, so I did...

--

To: adam@XXXX.biz
Cc: info@wienertakesall.com
Subject: Questions for the interview

Hey Adam:

Here are my preliminary questions for the interview. Obviously they are mostly tongue-in-cheek (like the whole film). This might not be all the questions but gives you a gyst of the tone. Please let me know asap if we can finalize a date so I can lock in my crew.

[crap deleted]

I'm having a terrible time getting anyone from Adville [Wienerschnitzel's PR company] returning [sic] my calls. I really don't understand what the problem is. This is a film about Wiener Dog Racing. I don't know what they are afraid of but any help you could give me in getting them to participate would be greatly appreciated.

This film will be great for Wienerschnitzel - it's going to be a family film that will have wide appeal. But if Adville doesn't cooperate it makes it look like Wienerschitzel has something to hide (which is retarded but still kinda funny).

If you have a list of dates/contact people for the events I'd really love a copy so I can schedule my crew. I was also hoping that you might be able to get me a letter from Tom et al giving me permission to film these events - that way I don't have to deal with Adville at all.

Again thanks sooo much for all your help. You're going to be in my credits.

If you need to get in touch with my I can be reached at 858-XXX-XXXX.

Shane

PS - check out www.wienertakesall.com

Tell me about the history of the Wiener Nationals.
How critical are the Wiener Nats to the Wienerschnitzel marketing effort?
What are your favorite memories of the Wiener Nationals?
Who are some of the more memorable or famous characters you've met?
Some people really seem to take the Wiener Nats to heart. Have you had any run-ins with these people?
Some racers complain that others cheat by "launching" their dogs. Have you seen this happen? Is it forbidden under International Wiener Dog Racing Federation rules?
Are there any formal rules for the wiener nats? How are they developed? Is there a world governing body?
Is there any gambling on the Wiener Nationals? If so, can you hook me up?
How are the judges chosen and trained?
The DCA has come out in opposition to wiener dog races. What's your stance on this? How do you allay their fears of wiener dog racing becoming a for-profit circuit?
Would you be tempted to go to a track that had nothing but wiener dog racing?
I understand that the Wiener National events have raised money for humane societies across the country. Do you know how much money has been raised?
Noodles seems to have had the hardest time of all of the dogs - two years in a row he was robbed (the owner's words) and in 2004 he finally won. Unfortunately this year Orlando at Los Alamitos is not going to let Noodles run and defend his title. Do you think that's fair? Would you like to see Noodlesbe able to defend his title?
The Noodles and Pretzel rivalry was one of the more legendary wiener dog racing battles. Have there been any other rivalries that you can remember?
What's the fastest winning time for a Wiener Nats?
In your opinion, Who was the best champion wiener dog racer - Noodles or Baron?

Pretty hard-hitting stuff huh? I can see why any VP Marketing worth his salt would go scurrying to the hills. WHAT IS WIENERSCHNITZEL HIDING???

Wienerschnitzel Officially Sucks

2005-05-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, we’re through the looking glass. Wienerschnitzel is officially refusing to give us any interviews on camera, or cooperate with our film in any way whatsoever. Why? Because I had this picture on our website…

...as well as another pic of me getting my stitches out. Wienerschnitzel's PR flacks said they are concerned that I won’t reflect well on their “family values”. I explained to their PR people that the first photo I don’t even own – I posted it because I thought it was cute (it is), and the second was for my friends who wanted to see the stitches in my arm. Neither is destined for the film, and my site gets 10 hits a day (at most) - from blood relatives. My pleas fell on deaf ears.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. “Wienerschnitzel has wholesome values and an image we need to uphold”??? Wha...wholesome??? You feed kids hotdogs…

Here’s what Wikipedia says about hotdogs…

Hot dogs are generally regarded as unhealthy insofar as most have high sodium, fat and nitrate content. Contents can also be questionable, with cheaper types of hot dogs having been known to contain snouts, ears and organ meat blended.

Hmmm, I guess those high moral values involve feeding kids wholesome fatty chili-covered crap. For the record, I DO NOT ENDORSE GIVING WIENER DOG PUPPIES BEER OR SMOKES. Wait until they are 3 years old, the legal wiener dog age of consent, and even then only let them drink if they're REALLY Jonesing. I guess what I'm trying to say is "moderation" people...

Back to reality, I suspect the *real* reasons Wienerschnitzel won’t speak to me are:

They seemed to be very panicked at the 2004 party that we *may* have filmed a couple of their executives drinking (but not drunk). Gee, drinking at a party - not exactly a scandal... I promised that we would not use any footage of people drinking – but that didn’t seem to satisfy them.
They were also (or so they say) unaware that the Dachshund Club of America is officially opposed to wiener dog races for a variety of reasons. I had told Wienerschnitzel that I’d like to get their side of the story. They have declined. Fine. I guess I’ll tell their side for them.

Seems pretty bizarre (and pathetic) that a company that sponsors an event won't go on camera to speak about said event. What the hell are they hiding? It's WIENER DOG RACING!!! How controversial can it be??? Corporate America is running scared and I blame Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock - they've ruined it for the rest of us documentary filmmakers! Dammit Mike and Morgan, you owe me!!!

Tucson party and doping allegations

2005-05-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Tucson for Vinnie Barbarino's birthday. We met Vinnie and his owner Paul Aman at last year's Wiener Nationals in San Diego, and drove out to interview them both as well as get a spring time split. Vinnie's time were impressive - he's a real contender - when he stays focused. I'm pretty sure Vinny has a serious case of canine ADD - he has a predisposition to chasing dogs in other lanes instead of focusing on winning his race. But when he runs straight he's very fast.

The party was a blast and we had a fun interview with Paul. One surprising accusation that he made is that Noodles was "juiced up" at the finals. We're going to investigate the allegation to see if there's any substance to them. We'll keep you posted...

Heidi Spring Visit - Noodles Loses!

2005-05-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

We met up with Heidi Roo at the Riverside Dachshund Rescue Picnic, where she set a blistering pace for her spring time trial. That dog loves to run – at the picnic they had wiener dog races, and Heidi was going berserk as she watched other dogs racing – she wanted a piece of them so badly. Noodles made a surprise appearance with his owners, and was upset in his match with Stretch, one of the regulars at Huntington Beach’s Old World monthly wiener races. Hopefully this was just a glitch. Could it be that Noodles is losing his touch? Doubtful.

We also met up with Skittles, a sweet little doxie that suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of a “man of god”. I’ve attached some video of our meeting with her.

Heidi's Spring Visit - Noodles loses!!

2005-04-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

Wienerschnitzel's Wiener-dog Wall of Silence

2005-04-05T00:44:00.000-07:00

Still no word back from Wienerschnitzel, but my last contact with them did not give me the warm and fuzzies. Their PR people are petrified of me. It's truly the most bizarre thing I've ever experienced. If anyone had told me when I started making this film that it would be a continuous battle to get interviews with people I would have laughed.

My film is rapidly becoming a hybrid of "Best in Show" meets "Bowling For Columbine". What the hell's happening to my wiener dog movie?!?!

Getting down and dirty

2005-04-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

Today was a blast. We filmed the Dallas Fort Worth Earthdog competition - earthdog is pretty funny to watch. Picture this, a wiener dog has to make his way through an underground maze, find a rat in a cage, scratch/bark at the rat for a minute, then the rat is removed. So now you have a wiener dog playing underground in dirt, looking for a rat that just disappeared, and his owner is at the opening to the maze calling the dog out. The owner has 60 seconds for the dachshund to "recall". Now what do you think the dog's going to do - obey its owner and come out of the tunnel, or continue having a blast underground?

Yup, they rarely recall, and that's good for us. We got some hilarious shots of people going nuts as they tried to call their dog out. Bribes, threats, promises, pleas. Pretty funny stuff. Can't wait to get back to San Diego to edit this down...

The trials of shooting field trials

2005-04-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

We're in Hempstead, Texas for the DCA's national field trials competition. It's a pretty neat contest - dachshunds are brought out in pairs after a rabbit has been chased through an area. The doxies need to rely on their noses to detect the rabbit's scent and figure out which path it took.

It's really difficult to shoot one of these events - the rabbits are so fast, and the grass the wiener dogs run through is really tall. After a day of shooting we only really have shots of people chasing rabbits and dogs running through grass. Again and again and again.

Still I think we have enough to make an interesting segment. I'm off to bed - tomorrow we are back for the Earthdog competition. From what I hear this is going to be hilarious to watch.

Noodles update / Baby Luv visit

2005-03-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

Noodles got a clean bill of health from his vet. We filmed his spring visit, then stopped in to Baby Luv's house to check up on her.

Noodles turns his head and coughs...

We got spring time trial splits for both – these are some FAST wiener dogs… Both are definite contenders come this fall.

Baby Luv and her parents Dayton and Bobbie
Baby is one of the faster wiener dog racers
on the West Coast

Noodles has a seizure. Wienerschnitzel still holding out (?!)

2005-03-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

Still getting pushback from Wienerschnitzel. Heard today that Noodles had a major epileptic seizure the other day. We'll be going with him to his vet checkup this week. We'll keep you posted.

Back to Wiener Central

2005-02-18T19:36:00.000-08:00

We made it back safe and sound. We shot 20 hours of footage over two and a half days. That may not sound like much but trust me, it was grueling. We got lots of great interviews at Westminster, and were lucky enough to get invited to the Knickerbocker Dachshund Club's show the day before WKC. There we met up with Charles Baris, who quite frankly, is a blast, and the elusive Iris Love, patron saint to the dachshund world. We actually crashed her party after being uninvited - thankfully it all ended well and we got our interview. We also met up with John Mayhall and Doodlebug, winners of the WKC wirehaired dachshund competition. Here are some pics from the NYC visit.

Big Apple Wieners

2005-02-13T15:14:00.000-08:00

We've arrived in New York for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Gardens. We had tons of interviews lined up, but one by one people have started dropping out. Why? Well after doing tons of digging we've discovered that people are afraid to talk to us because we might ask about either double dappled and piebald dachshunds, or about wiener dog races – both of which are (surprisingly) very sensitive topics within the dachshund world. The Dachshund Club of America is on record as opposing wiener dog racing, and they fear that my film will glamorize the sport.

I want to give all sides of the story, so I've arranged to meet the DCA's board of directors in New York to convince them to speak to me on camera. As for the double dapple/piebald debate, to be honest I had no idea this controversy even existed prior to people pulling out of my interviews. The more I dig the more divisive I find this debate is. Hopefully I'll be able to get somebody to speak to me on camera. This is definitely not how I though this little documentary was going to evolve. I never would have thought that a documentary about wiener dogs could evoke such emotion. Bizarre…

Some sanity...

2005-02-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

The past week has been a struggle, but I've finally been able to able to coax my interviewees back into speaking with me. Apparently there are a few issues...

1) People are afraid that I am going to be promoting wiener races. The DCA is opposed to these races (which is why I wanted to talk to them), and they don't want to draw attention to these events.

2) There's a double dapple/piebald controversy that people are afraid I am going to talk about. I actually didn't know this controversy even existed - and how divisive an issue it is within the dachshund community.

So we're set for New York. I've got to go read more about double dapples and piebalds...

Shane

On being uninvited...

2005-01-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

All right, I'm now officially starting to get annoyed. For a month I've had several interviews lined up to speak with some of America's top dachsund breeders and handlers at New York's Westminster Kennel Club show. I wanted to speak with them about the world of show dachshunds, as well as to find out why many in the Dachshund Club of America are opposed to dachshund racing.

Now all the people are dropping out one after the other. On top of that, it seems like we've been "uninvited" from Iris Love's famous party at the Tavern on the Green. We've been looking forward to interviewing a lot of people at this shindig, but our promised invitation never arrived and our phone calls are not being returned. What the heck is going on???

We're still heading to NYC - I've paid for the tickets and the crew so we're committed. We'll just have to wing it and hopefully we'll be able to talk some people into speaking to us on camera.
If anyone had told me that shooting a documentaries about wiener dogs would involve this much work chasing people for interviews I'd have laughed. I'm not laughing now...

Michael Moore and wiener dogs

2005-01-22T17:25:00.000-08:00

Very weird. Wienerschnitzel, the hot dog chain that co-sponsors the Wiener Nationals, is not returning my phone calls. I keep getting a vague "wait and see" response from their PR people as to when I can interview one of the executives about the history of the Wiener Nationals. They say that since SuperSize me and Bowling For Columbine have come out, that companies are very hesitant to speak on camera. Um, if you’re making weapons or using child labor, maybe, but I just want to ask them about wiener dog racing. This will probably be resolved soon.

Noodles Wins!!!

2004-12-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Well there’s no turning back now. We’ve got our first footage in the can and I have to admit it feels good to finally get this underway. Last night was a blast. We met most of the dogs that were racing today, and we made our picks (well most of them) of which ones we will follow for the following year. They are (in no particular order): Noodles, Baby Luv, Heidi Roo, Hailey, and Vinnie Babarino. The fifth dog that we were going to profile, the defending champ Pretzel, died suddenly earlier this month. We may profile Pretzel’s little brother Blitzen if possible. We’re also trying to track down Todd and Poppie Kroeker from Orange County; a family that boasts four very successful wiener racers.

Noodles won today’s race hands down – not even close. It was a very satisfying victory for Noodles’ owners after having been so close to the money for so many years. Will he have what it takes to defend his title next year? Check back 365 days from today to find out. Actually check back sooner than that lol.

Party pics

2004-12-29T23:52:00.000-08:00

We finally got to meet Bobbie LeGrua and Baby Luv, one of the Wiener National's perennial runner-ups. Baby Luv is one of the faster dogs at the Old World wiener dog races held in Huntington Beach, California. I'll try and post some frame captures later. Tomorrow's race day! Gotta get my rest!

And so it begins...

2004-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

We start filming tonight and we're already off to a rocky start. Exactly 10 days ago I was in a bad bike accident, and broke my arm in 6 places (my bones were poking through the skin in a couple of places). On the upside I got a ride on one of San Diego’s newest paramedic units and some kickass pain meds. Today I got the stitches (60+) out and a new lighter cast, designed by my orthopedic surgeon to allow me maximum flexibility for operating a camera. It hurts like hell, even with the vicodin. My camera man, Ricardo, finally made it here from Mexico City. I couriered his plane tickets 3 weeks ago, but they never arrived, so I had to resend him tickets. They arrived yesterday and he arrived this morning. Sheesh.

Tonight we’re going to the Wiener Nationals pre-race party, where we will be meeting most of the competitors from around the country. Our eye is on Noodles who, two years in a row, has “won” the Wiener Nats, only to have the race declared a false start and then lost the second (and final) race. Hopefully this year he will win an undisputed race (finally).

Noodles (right) is edged out by Buddy in the
controversial final race of the 2003 Wiener Nationals
Photo (c) Kevin Nibur