Animal wranglers: keeping the instinct alive
Animals are an important part of the human experience and therefore, they play a vital role in many screen productions. But their trainers are struggling, so are animal wranglers the next endangered species? Georgina Pearson reports.
The old show business saying “never work with children or animals” is a reminder of the power of an animal performance, which can connect with audiences in ways that humans rarely can.
There are always films, TV shows and TVCs requiring an animal cast member of some sort, so the pressure to deliver falls on animal wranglers. And with every scene requiring hours of training, not to mention thousands of dollars, the stakes are high to get it right.
As the industry rapidly moves into increasingly realistic CGI, it would seem that using real animals on-screen is a slow dying art form. It is not; however, in Australia at least, the biggest issues this sector is facing come from an entirely different source.
In order for Australian animal wranglers to keep up globally, the ability to train and access exotic animals is vital. But the bureaucratic tape seems endless – and obtaining the requisite permissions is a long and arduous process.
Kirsten Feddersen from Kirsko Film Animals (Sleeping Beauty, Home and Away) is frustrated with the lack of support. “The Government makes it difficult for us to work to our full potential. It took me five years to get my licence to keep crows, but it takes a farmer five days to get a licence to shoot crows. I am into year seven of trying to import two leopards into Australia to use in the screen industry because we have no working specimens in the country, and no remaining breeding leopards.
“The Department of Environment and Heritage claims that I am not an ‘exceptional case’ even though I have spent years overseas learning how to train all kinds of big cats and other exotic animals from the world’s best trainers,” she explained.
Feddersen claims that the unavailability of certain species is costing the screen industry a large amount of work. However, Animal Actors’ Christine Powell believes that is ultimately not the case, suggesting that even if the laws were relaxed – there just isn’t the demand: “It is hugely expensive to import and as there is very little work for exotics; it is not worth the trouble of keeping them.”
But when there is indeed need for an exotic species, Powell suggests that a closer relationship between the local zoos and animal handlers could be the key: “If you have a zoo licence, it is possible to import some animals, but this is becoming more difficult for the smaller operator. Of course Australia has very strict quarantine laws that are necessary for biosecurity. A relationship between the larger zoos and professional wranglers might be the answer.”
TVC SAVES THE DAY
Whilst film work is out there for the taking – a lack of budget for both local and overseas productions is another contributing factor to the loss of work. Julie Lorimer, from Animal House, outlines the concern: “The lack of high budget overseas and local work means that we don’t have the budgets to train and keep a lot of everyday animals.
And it’s hard to keep them trained and ready for local productions, which mostly don’t have the budget nor lead time for prep of the animals.“
The bread-and-butter work of this industry is TV commercials, with cats and dogs being the most requested animal performers. According to Feddersen, they keep the money coming in until the bigger jobs come along.
“Television commercials are definitely our main income. We also do quite a bit of stills work but these jobs tend to be much shorter,” she said.
Powell added that while TVCs certainly pay the bills, regular television work keeps wranglers out of the red.
“We are lucky to have regular work on the production of Neighbours. This year we also finished the third Underbelly tele-movie, where we used a cat and a kitten.”
UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
The relationship between an animal and actor on set can be a essential part to not only the final effect of the shoot, but the difference between a film staying on budget – or not. Having to re-shoot a scene for even one extra hour can cost upwards of $50,000. This is another huge challenge animal wranglers must face. Feddersen told Encore: “There are so many starving actors out there that they will say they are an expert at anything to get the job.
Production companies need an animal trainer to be part of the casting and this is usually not an option financially. The look of the actor is so important and they don’t think of the consequences till they get on set and we need to do many takes because there is little or no interaction.”
Powell adds that it really is luck of the draw when it comes to the actors, but it is writers and directors who continually have unrealistic expectations.
“Actors, like the general population either like or dislike animals and we are lucky if we can work with actors that have some empathy for the animal and respect for the professionalism of the wrangler. The problems begin with the writer’s expectations of what an animal can do and the director is stuck with that concept. Directors have often told me what to do with the animal and where to put it without telling me what they want to achieve. They seem to have little understanding of the ability of the wrangler and animal to work as a team,” she explained.
However, Lorimer believes this particular problem is improving and the real concern is lack of training before the shoot. “Directors seem to be much more knowledgeable about animals these days, and our main challenge is the lack of budget for pre–production training of the animals for their specific script. Even highly trained dogs, like all good actors, sometimes need to learn a new skill for a part and that can take time.”
Powell says the discussion time with directors is just not enough: “If writers availed themselves of our free pre-production advice, we may have less problems. There also appears to be very little time allocated for discussions with trainers regarding the best way to get the shots they need.”
HIGH MAINTENANCE
A vast amount of effort goes into the pre-production and training of animals before they are required on set, and the cost of this is frequently overlooked. Many production managers just don’t understand the full extent of what is put into each individual animal.
“They just don’t realise that we often get up at 3am to make sure animals are cleaned and fed before arriving on location. When the rest of the crew wrap and maybe meet for a beer in the closest pub, we go straight home to unpack our animals, clean, feed, and exercise them. Unlike camera equipment or lights, we cannot pack them up and leave them on a shelf till we next need them. They continue to be high maintenance till their next job,” explained Feddersen.
Powell agrees: “The usual comment is ‘we only need it for two hours’ meaning, ‘we don’t expect to pay very much’. They don’t give thought to the training, grooming, vehicles, cleaning, prop providing that go with it. Time during pre-production to iron out problems saves a lot of time on the set.”
A common misconception on low budget films, says Feddersen, is that finding the cheapest quote will save costs: “They don’t realise that the inexperienced animal trainer that comes along with an animal that is not properly prepared may take an hour to get a shot that may have taken an experienced animal trainer only five minutes. How much is the production paying per hour for a full film crew? How much has the ‘cheap’ quote just cost them?”
WORKING LIKE AN ANIMAL
The skill set of an animal wrangler is unique and there is an increasing risk that over time Australia may lose a large amount of trainers as business becomes difficult to sustain.
According to Powell, wranglers’ skills go beyond training their animals: “To be successful, wranglers need to have not only a great understanding of their animals but also have people skills. They have to be able to handle stressful situations with actors who often have no experience with animals. They also need to have an understanding of how to be a part of the crew and to communicate with the director without telling him or her how to direct.”
Lorimer believes that although there is plenty of interest, a job like this not easy to learn.
“There is always a lot of interest from young people; they think it would be great fun to be able to work full time with animals. However the reality is hard work and dedication. They must be able to take direction and be part of a team,” she explained.
The work is not for the weak: “As much as it is fantastic being paid to spend time with animals, it is really hard work physically and very long hours – so very difficult to maintain a “normal” life with these kind of conditions,” said Feddersen.
But when push comes to shove, even though working in this sector is often frustrating and physically demanding with long hours and low budgets – ultimately, these animal trainers are living their passion.
Feddersen summarised it all: “I have a million stories to tell from being lucky enough to be in this industry for such a long period of time. I love my work because I adore animals of all kinds. I wouldn’t trade my profession for anything else because I am very passionate about it”.
And at the end of the day – who doesn’t want that?
I really sympathise with you! I adore animals with a passion, yet there’s this constant pressure to reduce costs, cut corners, get things for as little as possible. I don’t know how you stay sane! Oh, yes, that’s right: spending time along with your wonderful animals. That’s really beyond measure. Thanks for the interesting article!
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Good article.
I think the film industry as a whole is under more pressure these days.
As an animal trainer / wrangler in NZ I can say that all the things you have said in your article are true over in NZ as well.
I have enjoyed my job for over 16 years and will keep training the animals even if there is no film work.
Karen
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