Writer/Director Danielle Baynes: Powerful Short Film THE DOG starring Kate Walsh - Interview and Film Breakdown

Danielle Baynes, an award-winning actor, writer and director based in Australia. With a passion for performance-driven narratives, Danielle’s work often explores coming-of-age, connection and identity.

Danielle was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild Award and Australian Directors' Guild Award for her debut short film, COLD HEARTS. Co-written and co-directed with Yolanda Ramke, COLD HEARTS won Best Narrative Short and Exceptional Emerging Artist awards at the Hollywood Film Festival.

Her second short film, COMMENTS, won the Audience Award at Freshflix Film Festival 2022 and was launched as a social impact campaign in support of the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence. It is now used in schools around the world as a education tool on the impact of cyberbullying.

Danielle debuts her fourth short film, THE DOG, starring Kate Walsh of GREY’S ANATOMY & EMILY IN PARIS, which we discuss in-depth in this interview.

Ladies and gentlemen, you need to keep your eye on Danielle Baynes’ short film THE DOG. This is going to a major contender in every film festival it goes too. It deserves a run this Oscar season. When you get a chance to see, it’ll be the most emotional 11 minutes you’ll live.

Over the course of one night at a 24-hour clinic, struggling veterinarian Claire contends with the pressures of her shift and a persistent inner turmoil. Mental illness and suicide are subjects we cannot take lightly. Millions around the world are dealing with things we can’t define, but we must use our senses of seeing, hearing, maybe learning how to read the room in some cases to see who could be suffering silently.

Learn to listen, learn and love. I call them the three L’s because just doing those things will have a profound effect upon those suffering the unimaginable emotional toll of mental illness.

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