AJ Goes To The Dog Park

Saturday, May 31st
6:15pm

Tickets

Narrative • Comedy • USA • 2024 • 78 Minutes
Director: Toby Jones
Writer: Toby Jones
Producer: Toby Jones, AJ Thompson, Owen Dennis, Tucker Lucas, John Jones, James Belfer, Ben Hanson
Cast: AJ Thompson, Greg Carlson, Morgan Hoyt Davy, Ethan Saari

Most Hollywood films, because they cost millions (or tens of millions, or hundreds of millions) of dollars, are made by committee. Some independent films feel like mini-me versions of these studio pictures. Someone has a great idea for a film, but is unable to get studios interested, so they make their film in the same mold.

AJ Goes To The Dog Park is the kind of movie that a committee would never make. Unabashedly absurdist, whimsical, quirky, silly, and cartoonish, AJGTTDP is nearly guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a spring to your step.

AJGTTDP is a surreal and gag-driven comedy about an ordinary man named AJ who enjoys a simple life in the midwestern haven of Fargo, North Dakota. When his favorite dog park is taken away, it begins a chain reaction that completely upends his existence and sends him on an unforgettable odyssey to fight, fish, scrap, scrape, and sap things back into place.

In 2024, AJGTTDP played at genre film festivals as well as general-interest festivals. At The Lake County Film Festival in Grayslake, IL, it won the Jury Award For Best Narrative Feature. The jury said, “AJ Goes to the Dog Park represents the true nature of independent film. It is a high-concept, low-budget, DIY bit of wholly impressive cinema.”

From Music Box Films/Doppelganger Releasing.

Short Film preceding the feature:

The Day Keeper
Narrative • Comedy • USA • 2024 • 8 Minutes
Director: Mark Kiefer
Writers: Steve Young, Mark Kiefer
Producers: Steve Young, Mark Kiefer
Cast: Steve Young, Liam McNeill, Jason Reulet

A comedy mockumentary about a lighthouse keeper who struggles to keep his own inner light shining.