Tonya Cornelisse Official Website

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Dog Days
How Graham Sibley and Tonya Cornelisse got into Sundance with two pets and no budget.
January 25, 2008
By Sarah Kuhn

Graham Sibley and Tonya Cornelisse aren't exactly what you would call animal lovers. "Graham and I live off cereal and can't take care of plants," notes Cornelisse. "So we're not big dog people." And yet the two actor-writers made a short film called Dog Lovers, which focuses on a pair of canine aficionados who meet in a park and proceed to wax enthusiastic about their pets' private parts. The four-minute film was one of 83 shorts selected from more than 5,000 submissions to play at this month's Sundance Film Festival. It will screen in front of the Stanley Tucci-directed feature Blind Date.

The idea for Dog Lovers began in a New York long-form improv class taught by Alan Arkin. Cornelisse attended the class and participated in an exercise that developed into a bit about two people who are really into their dogs — to a disturbing degree. When Cornelisse moved to L.A., she and Sibley riffed on the idea, turning it into a short script. "Graham and I met in New York City, and when I moved here we remained really good friends," says Cornelisse. "I slept on his couch. We started writing together, and we wrote a ton of shorts, and this is just one of them. We would literally pass the computer back and forth."

Eventually the duo decided to shoot the script as an exercise. They recruited their filmmaker pal Danny Roew, who edited both of their reels, to direct and produce, and set out to find a pair of dogs willing to co-star. Of course, the film's script calls for the pups to be in a few questionable situations. "We called all of our friends with dogs," remembers Sibley. "I said to my friend Justin, 'We're making this movie, and I'm going to have to touch your dog's vagina. Is that okay?'" Chimes in Cornelisse, "He was like, 'I don't want my dog involved in this!' "

Casting the Part

Luckily, they found two dogs who fit the roles of the well-endowed "Mr. Modopoe" and "Mrs. Pippa Peppers" perfectly: sad-faced Pudge and perky pup Misty, both of whom belonged to friends. By all accounts, the canine co-stars were more than a match for their human counterparts. "We cast them off of just taking a glance at their rears, and they did a great job," recalls Cornelisse. "By the fate of the gods, these dogs looked like they were trained."

Roew, who is a dog owner, had an ideal location in mind: a dog-friendly park near the Hollywood sign in the Hollywood Hills. Sibley and Cornelisse rehearsed at Roew's house the Sunday before shooting, then spent about four hours filming in the park. Roew shot the film on his Canon XL2. Sibley and Cornelisse had originally planned on purchasing paper cups and apple juice to use as props, but they forgot. Thus, the budget came in at a grand total of zero dollars.

As they were shooting on a particularly hot day, they encountered a lot of concerned dog owners who wanted to make sure Pudge and Misty were being well taken care of. "We kept doing these takes, and we would shoot one dog at a time, and the other dog would be tied up to the tree, and people kept [asking us]: 'Is your dog okay?'" Sibley recalls, miming the panic of a dog lover. "People really took care of our dogs."

The film was edited on Final Cut Pro by Aaron Bennett, who also composed the music. Sibley and Cornelisse never planned on passing the finished work on to the programmers at Sundance, but someone at the festival heard about their project and suggested they submit it. "We submitted an unfinished copy," recalls Sibley. "And I guess it was a unanimous decision [among] all the programmers, because it fits perfectly with the film it's screening in front of. We thought, 'This isn't a Sundance film. There's no way.' " "But it is, in every way," counters Cornelisse, pointing out that the duo's nonexistent budget and can-do attitude represent the independent spirit of the festival. "I think it celebrates, in my mind, what [Sundance] is about. It's independent filmmaking. It's the spirit of Sundance at its deepest roots."

Teaming Up

Cornelisse and Sibley are working actors: She's been on ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; he has appeared in Days of Our Lives and the acclaimed documentary Nanking. They met while co-starring in a film called Zombie Honeymoon and felt an immediate creative spark. Both are from middle-class families in the Midwest, and they seem to share a similar sense of humor.

Additionally, they have a passion for creative pursuits beyond acting. Both believe that it's important to create your own work and be proactive in your career. "If you're a full-fledged artist, which I think a lot of actors are, it's [about] taking the reins and using that creative motion and not waiting for something to happen," says Cornelisse. "Being an actor can be a really, really passive thing. As an artist, it can be a little maddening. Writing constantly gave me sanity, especially when I moved here."

Adds Sibley, "When you're in control of your own stuff, you end up losing desperation. When you're auditioning, the stink of desperation is awful. But if you're in control of your own stuff, it's like, 'Look, I'm doing my own stuff, and if you want to hire me, great, I'll see if I can fit it in. If not, I've got nine other things I'm doing right now.'" In that vein, Sibley, Cornelisse, and Roew plan to continue collaborating on projects.

Their dynamic helps fuel their artistry: Sibley notes that they have a unique, warm, and open creative environment when they work with one another. That environment was particularly helpful on Dog Lovers' one-day shoot. "It was so easy with the three of us," says Cornelisse. "Because it was just the three of us, and we have the same sense of humor and are on the same kind of creative page, so there wasn't really a lot of talking. Danny would say something, and Graham and I would just do it and keep going and improv and go off."

Currently, the trio is devising a sci-fi comedy Web series called Big Bearth, which would once again star Sibley and Cornelisse. "My ultimate goal is to produce and just be [my] own shop," says Sibley. "I think with where the medium is, it's a totally feasible thing. It's just a matter of getting the right people on board to help you do it." Indeed, he notes, finding people you want to work with, people who share your creative sensibility, is the key. Sibley, Cornelisse, and Roew seem to have found that sort of artistic community together. "We all are in [the industry] for the right reasons and the same reasons," says Cornelisse.

And what would those reasons be? Quips Sibley, "Doggie porn."

“Victoria (beautifully played by Tonya Cornelisse) shows us what it looks like when lost souls sniff out a chance to belong to something whole.”

“Cornelisse wears her heart on her sleeve in this beautiful performance. She creates a truly recognizable character, the fun-loving and wanton friend, then adds a twist of originality to make the role truly engaging. Her scenes with lead actress Lia Aprile are effortlessly engaging. A striking performance.”

“Scenic designer Paul Owen’s eye-catching set of high grass in an open field, reminiscent of a similar set in London and New York for British playwright Charlotte Jones’s Humble Boy, helped make all the lust in the Great Plains dust tolerable as did the striking performance of Tonya Cornelisse as the heroine’s beer-guzzling friend with a long repressed yen for her.”

“The one worth her salt is Mary, played by Tonya Cornelisse. Mary provides the play’s zingers, and Cornelisse offers the liveliest performance.”

“Keeping me awake was Tonya Cornelisse’s interesting, jangly performance as Mary.”

ZOMBIE HONEYMOON

“Zombie Honeymoon scores simultaneously as romantic, grotesque, and screamingly funny…this well-thesped pic has a real shot at becoming a cult classic.”

“Not quite the campfest its absurd but undeniably catchy title suggests, Zombie Honeymoon is actually an emotionally driven blend of romance, comedy, and horror…worth soled performances and capable direction by Dave Gebroe, whose script is infused with wickedly funny lines.”

“Zombie Honeymoon gave me nightmares and made me wake-up screaming…Cornelisse’s fierce performance was delicious to watch.”

“ACTS OF PROVIDENCE, two one acts by Edward Allan Baker, a strong writer with a good ear, is an intriguing evening of theatre. The first play,"Jane's Exchange," sets up a fascinating mystery about the relationships among four people in the kitchen of a bakery that totally engages, and fully satisfies at the ending revelations. The four actors, Amorika Amoroso, Joe Capozzi, Julie Karlin and the scintillating Tonya Cornelisse fulfill their roles perfectly, and Russell Treyz directs with verve.”

“In “Jane’s Exchange” nothing is as it seems, after several twists and turns. It suddenly appears… It takes a seemingly airhead’s (Tonya Cornelisse) to solidify roles, explore emotions, and define the course of future events. Cornelisse comes in and cleans up.”

WORM DAY

“The stage comes alive at the DR2 when Millie Krause (played by the charismatic Cornelisse) enters into the action. We long to become a part her mysterious world…She gives this worm guts.”

“There are a number of accomplished and even exceptional performances to be found among the eight…Especially fun is Tonya Cornelisse’s sly Valley Girl portrayal of the idealistic Dancer.”

“Program notes advise us she is “Madonna-like,” but (Cornelisse) also borrows from the younger Bette Midler and Cyndi Lauper. In playing her, Cornelisse enters wearing a huge blonde wig and doing bumps and grinds. Proving herself a game girl, the slender Cornelisse, whose torso also resembles the late Audrey Hepburn’s, allows to remain truly funny underneath her elaborate costuming.”

AND NOW…STRAIGHT AND HOT OFF THE NEWSTAND…

ADDITIONAL PRESS for TONYA CORNELISSE

Dog Days

ZOMBIE HONEYMOON

WORM DAY