Making Pictures
Derp Dog Films is focused on developing meaningful feature films and documentaries using fresh talent in all roles of a production. These stories explore the human condition with a motivation of respect for all - because we all matter.
We are also a collaborative film community looking to find, create, and present opportunity to new filmmakers who: have the the talent, the drive, and desire to make great art, just need the break.
This little dog needs help too. The kind of help only people can offer. People who want to affect change for the betterment of everyone.
That person just might be you.
Feature Film - Esther Jackson's Good Trouble
Esther Jackson is tired. She's tired of being late for school because of the new interstate being built through the middle of her vibrant Black community. Esther is tired of being surrounded by the racism she was promised would end with the Civil Rights Act. She's sick of the apathy, and excuses from the politicians who promise little and deliver less.
But, more than anything Esther just wants to be a kid just like any other kid. Her world, though, is one determined to rob her of that childhood. Then on a rainy April night in 1968 Essie is blindsided by unspeakable tragedy. In an instant fear, rage, and desperation consume Esther Jackson forcing her to set her own course for change, and in search of "Good Trouble."
Documentary - Blessed are the Immigrants
The United States is a nation of immigrants. This is not mythical propaganda. It is statistical fact. Ninety percent of the U.S. population are decedents of immigrants. What isn't fact is the idea that America has always welcomed immigrants. Each influx of new Americans have faced their own wave of anti-immigrant bigotry and even violence.
"Blessed are the Immigrants" takes the audience on a historical rewind through the good, bad, and sometimes very ugly story of coming to America. "Blessed" examines our melting pot past through mass migration and slavery. This film compares and contrasts 20th century migration and how it has evolved to its very anti-immigrant present, and the resurgence of of an open racism at the highest levels of power.
It is the hope of this film to bring understanding of the common ground we share, and a belief that this land has plenty of room for all to set forth each newcomer toward their own American dream.
Documentary Series - American Jesus
Few subjects stir more passion and controversy in the 21st century United States than Christianity. Whether the conversation is theocratic, or political, nothing can bring emotions to a fever than Christianity's role in America. "American Jesus" takes a denominational look into the modern interpretation of Christianity and how it has become a sub political ideology through Christian Nationalism. "American Jesus" asks the question, "How or if Christian Nationalism can co-exist with other Abrahamic religions, and non-believers in a constitutionally secular society.
Documentary - Our Forgotten Rose
It was a late September Saturday in 1949 when my Aunt Rose boarded a train in her small southern Indiana home town bound for St. Louis. It would be the final leg in what must have been a painful youth that still remains a mystery today. A mystery that begs the question - why.
Why would a seemingly happy 21 year old woman from rural Indiana, with her entire adult life ahead of her, take that life, 200 miles from home, alone, and without explanation?
Vertical Shorts - Social Media Film Series
Short independent films made specifically for the vertical formatted Tik Tok and Instagram audience. More to come.