Prolific Film Editor/VFX Artist Finds A Home With Debra Granik's Critically Acclaimed 'Stray Dog' Documentary

    LOS ANGELES, CA, March 17, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Film and TV editor/visual effects artist Andres Vergara brought his post-production talents to the award-winning feature documentary, "Stray Dog," which has been parading the international film festival circuit to rave reviews since last year.

"Stray Dog" most recently received a Best Documentary nomination at the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards and will next screen Sunday, March 29, at the Atlanta Film Festival.

From Debra Granik, director and writer of the four-time Oscar nominated "Winter's Bone" starring Jennifer Lawrence, "Stray Dog" tells the unfiltered story of Ron 'Stray Dog' Hall, biker, lover of small dogs and Vietnam vet who struggles to come to terms with his war experiences. The film examines Hall, who runs the At Ease RV Park in Branson, Missouri, his wife, Alicia, an immigrant from Mexico, and her teenage sons.

Granik filmed the documentary over three years in Branson and Mexico City. Cameras in the Hall household captured impromptu, raw footage that allowed for natural, uninhibited storytelling. She selected Vergara, a Mexico City native, for an integral editorial role.

Having already established himself with key editorial and visual effects roles for many films including Neill Blomkamp's "Chappie," Universal Pictures' "Safe House" starring Denzel Washington and "Battleship" starring Liam Neeson, Vergara mined an estimated 3,200 hours of "Stray Dog" footage for the film's critical Spanish language sequences.

"Andres identified themes from the footage and selected and edited valuable material that enabled me to play out different scenarios of how to present the core vision of Stray Dog's story within the context of Mexican-American cultural communication," Granik wrote in a statement, "which was crucial for me as a film director, as it should be to film communities, to represent in true form the nuances of language and culture by working with an editor, who can interpret meaningful themes and who can help to build the language that the film needs to communicate."

Vergara said, "It's a very philosophical documentary. Two cultures mix together and their lives change drastically. Everything is just edited and raw and the way it is. It's very rare in the world of documentaries. The audience has to make their own conclusions and everything is tailored for viewers to appreciate."

Working in conjunction with Granik and editor Tory Stewart, Vergara identified, edited and submitted Spanish spoken scenes that enhanced the story and fit into Granik's vision for the final cut.

"When you don't have a story or a script, everything's difficult to get across," he said. "You have to sort of put that puzzle together. As an editor, it's all about having a good relationship with your director. From the beginning, I understood what she wanted. Debra was after finding very genuine stuff that would communicate what the family was going through. The American dream is not as easy as it looks."

"Stray Dog" has screened at more than 25 film festivals and won Best Documentary at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, where it premiered. It also won Best Documentary at the Twin Cities Film Fest and was nominated for Best International Documentary at the Zurich Film Festival.

"Andres used his specific skill to submit for my consideration for inclusion in the film's final narrative and his work was vitally important to me as Stray Dog's director, and directly contributed to the documentary's award-winning success," Granik wrote in a statement.

Vergara's work on "Stray Dog" is among the latest of his successfully expanding filmography, which includes key editorial department roles on director Micah Magee's 2015 feature, "Petting Zoo," which premiered in February at the Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for a Best First Feature award, as well as the award-winning feature comedy, "Growing Up and Other Lies" starring Adam Brody ("The O.C.") and Amber Tamblyn ( "127 Hours") , that's releasing in theaters March 20.

Vergara worked critically on visual effects for the 30-minute short film version of "Chappie," which was also directed by Blomkamp and starred Sharlto Copley, who now stars in the feature version playing in theaters nationwide.

Chief among Vergara's other visual effects credits include his work on "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1," which grossed more than $712 million worldwide, Relativity Media's visual tour de force "Immortals" starring "Man of Steel" Henry Cavill, Universal Pictures' "The Thing" (2011) and the sci-fi thriller TV series, "Gaia" from Leo Award nominee Chad Costen.

Vergara's edited five different Portavoz documentary series for Mexico's La Maga Films, and for international commercials for distinguished brands including Nissan, Canada's renowned Wireless Wave and the UK's Alpha BSE and Tech City.

For more information, visit: www.straydogthemovie.com and http://tinyurl.com/AndresIMDb

Andres Vergara is a film and TV editor/visual effects artist from Mexico City.

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