US Wilfred premieres tonight; Renegade Films interview
“Wilfred was rejected by every television network twice,” Tony Rogers, director of the Renegade Film’s sitcom tells Encore. “I don’t know how many DVDs with dog collars we sent out, minimum of a hundred.”
Tonight the American version of the show, starring Jason Gann back in the dog suit (Aussie accent intact) and The Lord of the Ring’s Elijah Wood as his neighbour Ryan, airs on Eleven.
The Australian version, created and written by Gann and fellow actor Adam Zwar originally as a short film in 2002 for Tropfest, was eventually picked up by Matt Campbell at SBS and the first series aired in 2007. Co-Executive Producer of Renegade, Joe Connor (#30 in Encore’s Power 50) says smugly “Now it’s done two seasons here and 13 episodes in the US.” Not to mention the four AFIs the Australian version has won.
The Renegade team sold the format to US cable channel FX, however Connor and his brother Ken remain Executive Producers on the American show. Premiering last Thursday in the States, it received great initial reviews with the New York Times’ Mike Hale writing, “Some shows aspire to cult status; this one goes straight there, practically bypassing the need to be broadcast at all.”
However, as Ken Connors says, “Something to remember with hindsight is that our version was written for an Australian audience, theirs for an American audience.”