Filmmakers Jen Cordery and Matt Cascella shoot a scene for the movie “Hangdog” at the 2022 Eastern Ball. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Husband and wife filmmakers Matt Cascella and Jen Cordery moved to Portland from New York in 2020 and were immediately inspired by their new home. They decided to shoot a movie here called “Hangdog” with Cascella as director and Cordery as writer.

The film is about a man who frantically searches the whole city for his girlfriend’s dog, which he lost. The boyfriend is played by Desmin Borges, who was on the FX series “You’re the Worst” and has a recurring role on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” The movie was shot around Portland in 2022 and start streaming Friday on Prime and Apple TV.

“Hangdog” will also play at the Portland Art Museum next week, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Cascella and Cordery will appear as part of the 3pm screening on SundayNovember 3. Just days before the film’s streaming release, Cascella took a few minutes to answer our questions.



What were some of the things that made you want to make a film in Portland?

First of all, it’s just a city that you don’t see much of in the movie. It is dynamic and has a lot of range. On the Eastern Prom, you’re looking at the ocean and all these islands. Then you are in the Old Port, with its cobbled streets. We were feeling burnt out in New York, where it’s strangely difficult to film things. But here, since it doesn’t happen often, it was easier and people were more than happy to help us. So it made sense to us and we felt inspired to tell this story.

What parts of Portland, visually, do you think became the stars of the movie?

I love the scene where our protagonist is on the ferry (Peaks Island). The ferry is so photogenic. It’s great to see the city fade into the background with the characters in the foreground. A lot of movies look like they’re hermetically sealed or something, all done on a soundstage and half the background is computer generated. I love movies set in real places, and this is just a great city that doesn’t get seen enough.

Have you ever lost Jen’s dog? Where does this story come from?

I met Jen over 10 years ago and when we started going out more I had this recurring vision in my head of losing her dog (a dachshund named Ollie) or having it stolen. I thought it was such a strange thing to focus on and also this notion of almost competing with him for her affection. So the idea stuck around and I thought it would be kind of a fun foundation for a story.

How did you find the dog that plays in the movie, Mr. Tibbs? Has he done much acting?

I found him through an animal trainer in Connecticut named Bill Berloni, and this was his first major role. We almost started thinking about the dog first, before many casts, because a dog can really get in your way. With a small indie film like ours, if the dog doesn’t do well, you don’t have a lot of time or space to find another one. I wanted people to accept it, I didn’t want him to feel like a stage dog or a movie dog always looking off-camera for a treat.

Many filmmakers say they would love to film in Maine, but find they can get more financial incentives from other states, such as Massachusetts. How did you make it work financially?

I think it’s because we were a small crew and had such a small budget (under $400,000). So while the tax incentives weren’t as great as they would be in, say, Massachusetts, the pluses outweighed the minuses for us. We used our house (in Portland) as a base camp, for example. If we were filming somewhere else, we would have had to rent a place. We really wanted to do our best to make it work here.

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