LOS ANGELES, July 7th (UPI) – Glen Zipper, creator of two Netflix animal documentaries dogs and Cat peopleHe hopes the new seasons, out on Wednesday, will unite viewers from each series.
“Dogs are one of the few things in life that brings us all together,” Zipper told UPI in a telephone interview. “One of the guiding principles of this show was to use dogs as a relatable element to show us how much we have in common.”
In its second season, dogs introduces four new dog sets and their owners. The inaugural season of Cat people does the same with six cat owners.
Season 2 of dogs These include the Butler University mascot Trip III, the Brazilian priest and dog rescuer Father Joao, the astronaut Leland Melvin and his two Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and the Air Force veteran Tara, who rescues a dog from Iraq.
Zipper said these four stories depict people from different backgrounds who share a common goal of caring for dogs.
“Showing a variety of characters from around the world, of every race, gender, ethnicity, etc. only doubles that message,” said Zipper. “If we can pour our love into this one thing together, there are probably other things we can pour our love into.”
Season 1 of dogs premiered on Netflix in 2018. The streaming service renewed the series in 2019.
Zipper said it took me a year to narrow down the four stories for season 2 and then film those stories during the COVID-19 pandemic that complicated production.
“It’s pretty difficult to come up with stories that have a real journey to them that can be told in real time with a beginning, middle and end,” said Zipper.
With travel, dogs followed its final season before Butler University earned Trip IV. At the same time, Trip’s supervisor Michael Kaltenmark received a kidney transplant.
Zipper said he picked stories that were likely to have happy endings. He said he would still consider a riskier topic but has so far been in on success stories. dressed dogs.
“We want these stories to be hopeful, happy and make the audience feel good,” said Zipper. “Life is tough and when people come home at the end of the day and do a show like that dogs or Cat people, they don’t want to be saddened. “
After season 1 of dogs premiered, Zipper said fans had pressured him on social media to do a similar show for cats. He said he used the same criteria to choose stories from cats and their owners.
“People’s love for their cats is just as strong as their love for their dogs,” says Zipper. “The bonds are just as strong.”
Zipper’s crew found that cats were less cooperative than dogs with their cameras. They adjusted to introduce cats to the film crews.
“We had to set up the gear and let it be there for a while and the crew just had to be there for a while to pass the cat sniff test,” said Zipper. “As soon as the cats were comfortable and bored with us, they just became cats again.”
Cat people Stories include women teaching cats acrobatics and music, Japanese artist Sachi creating 3D cat portraits named Wakuneco, a surf support cat, cat rapper moshow, and more. Zipper also selected two rescue organizations to follow.
“Our responsibility as storytellers is to tell the most compelling story,” said Zipper. “The rescue organizations that are able to tell these stories that we can offer to our audiences are the rescue organizations that we would partner with.”
Zipper came into production through animal rescue. In 2003, he found his pit bull puppy Anthony on the streets of New Jersey and retired from his law enforcement career to work at the animal shelter.
“After about six months, I had a strange feeling that I couldn’t identify,” said Zipper. “Finally my brother said to me, ‘Yes, this feeling that you are experiencing is called happiness.'”
After six months of animal rescue, Zipper moved to California. He has been producing documentaries since 2010. Anthony died at the start of the pandemic while Zipper was working on the second season of dogs.
“Anthony has been my whole life,” said Zipper. “If I hadn’t dogs to work after his life, I don’t know what I would have done. “
Zipper’s next production, UFO, will air on Showtime on August 8th. Zipper worked with JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot company to produce the series about government and private forces potentially covering up UFO sightings.
“UFO is much more journalistic and investigative, “said Zipper.” If you tell factual stories, they are even more convincing than science fiction or any other kind of fiction because they are reality. The stakes are real. “
dogs and Cat people Premiere on Wednesday on Netflix.
