DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:

Woof was born out of a simple, embarrassing, terrifying fear of mine: male pattern baldness.

Like many men, I equated hair loss with a loss of youth, desirability, and even identity. What began as insecurity became fixation, and I wanted to explore how easily vanity can spiral into something darker.

The film uses a breakup as the trigger because heartbreak magnifies every insecurity. In Jack’s case, his scalp becomes the battleground for self-worth, pulling him into absurd and grotesque territory. Beneath the body horror and humor, Woof is about how fragile masculinity can be, and the strange rituals we create to patch over that fragility. Sometimes that means trading virility for vanity — a cure worse than the disease.

I chose to shoot on 16mm because I wanted the texture of film — the imperfections, the grain — to mirror Jack’s unraveling. Practical effects were equally essential, both to complement the medium and to pay homage to some of my favorite transformations in An American Werewolf in London and The Fly. My influences range from David Cronenberg’s psychological unease, Coralie Fargeat’s mesmerizing absurdity, to the stark humor of Yorgos Lanthimos, but I wanted Woof to remain grounded in emotional truth even as it drifts into the surreal.

A line from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People captures the strange ideal at the heart of the film: “A dog is the only animal that doesn’t have to work…he makes his living by giving you nothing but love.” For Dr. Huerter, this becomes a literal mission — to restore his patients’ sense of desirability with a full mane so they too might give and receive unconditional love. But for Jack, the promise is deeply ironic: the very procedure meant to make him whole again only fractures him further, leaving him dehumanized and puppy-eyed, no longer capable of working on himself.

We need a little bit of help getting woof across the finish line.

WHERE YOUR DONATION WILL GO:

Editing – shaping the filmed story into its final form

Sound Design & Mix – cleaning and elevating the captured audio

Color Grading – bringing the 16mm film images to life

Festival Submissions – ensuring woof reaches audiences worldwide

ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE

DONORS OVER $5K WILL RECEIVE AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER CREDIT

Over $3k will receive a co-producer credit

$2k associate producer

$1k special thanks

$500 thanks

donation links below

Thank you

- Nicky