“The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.”

- Nikos Kazantzakis -

January 1984. Upon completing his Cold War fencing film, director Charles Crowe confines himself to a screening room for twenty-eight days, obsessively perfecting the final shot until an old friend's visit forces him to confront the buried guilt that has kept him in isolation.

A young and hungry director, Charles “C.R.” Montaigne, strives to create his flawless fencing film. His obsession runs deep and tends to be to the detriment of those he works with. Not only does he berate his cast and crew, but he also puts the talent through brutal conditions - opting to use real blades while filming action scenes, having no stunt coordinator present, and demanding an endless number of takes from his actors. He sacrifices the safety of others in order to achieve “realism”, paying a high price in order to make his masterwork. 

As tensions rise on set, Charles stands firm. Despite pushback from his lead actor, Jackson “Bulldog” Redding, on the number of takes and the quality of the equipment he’s having him wear, Charles keeps his talent at work. He does not move on until the shot is perfect. 

After so long, an accident occurs. Jackson stabs his real-life opponent, Alexei, and murders him on the spot. 

Charles descends further down a path of unhealthy obsession, confining and isolating himself in his editing room. He studies the film with an unshakable fixation - nothing else matters. Every waking hour is spent scouring it, and he slowly descends into madness because of the presence of the incident. The melding of his tenuous psyche and the darkness that rests within his visions of the past at the hands of the film itself sends him further down a path of perfectionist obsession, becoming entirely consumed by his art. Charles ignores his complicity and the collateral damage of his careless perfectionism by staying on the path of artistic madness.

But, when his lead actor and direct implicater of the incident, Jackson, confronts him in his editing room, Charles must face reality, his ego, and his own level of guilt in the unfolding of the event. The two men push blame onto one another, as Charles stays in denial. After tensions rise, Charles stabs himself in the eye with a fork. Unable to escape his own self-loathing, he lets his madness seep through the surface. 

But for Charles, once the film is released, only one question really matters - was it worth it?

The Bulldog is about facing the inescapable guilt that lingers when artistic ambition supersedes humanity. As we watch our protagonist consume himself with his art, I wish to portray how ego and perfectionism can blind artists to the human cost of their work.

Perfectionism is at the very core of cinema itself. Stanley Kubrick. David Fincher. Orson Welles. Directors who are infamous for their ruthless pursuit of perfection in their art. Frankly, I find myself constantly struggling to finish projects because I keep revising them over and over in pursuit of what I think is “perfection.”I channeled this crippling desire into writing The Bulldog. A psychological character study of young director Charles Crowe as he faces the consequences of his own ego and pursuit of perfection over the course of his short film. 

Charles Crowe was created, not necessarily as a self-insertion, but rather as the personification of the human ego. While developing his character, I envision that he had recently released his debut film to global acclaim, and that, now for his sophomore project, the pressures of consistency and perfection engulf his psyche, driving him into a delirium.

The final confrontation between Crowe and “Bulldog” is written from the perspective of a man (Charles) battling with his inner thoughts (“Bulldog”) and the psychological torment and guilt that imprison him. Charles may appear one-dimensional, self-serving, and egotistical, playing a villainous role; however, I view him as a deeply troubled, insecure artist whose identity has become inseparable from his art. And I believe that there is a little bit of that in all of us.

VITO GUZZO - Director & Writer

MAMADOU BAH - Director of Photography

RYAN SUMSION - Producer

SAM STARR - Assistant Director

JACKSON CARTER - Assistant Director

Food & Lodging - 21%

Post-Production - 25%

Transport & Travel - 12%

Camera - 12%

Grip & Electric - 8%

Production Design - 12%

Contingency - 10%

MAY - Crowdfunding, cast & crew outreach.

JUNE - Pre-production, locking locations & production dates, collecting and finalizing props + wardrobe.

JULY-AUG - Final prep into production, full shoot, initial post.

SEPT-DEC - Post-production, test screenings.

Late 2026-Early 2027 - Premiere and eventual release.

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