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Water Dawg

Once upon a time on Halloween, 1979... A new treat is introduced.

  • Christopher Baiza
    Director
    Myra
  • Christopher Baiza
    Writer
    Myra
  • Christopher Baiza
    Producer
    Myra
  • James L. Brewster
    Key Cast
    "Water Dawg "
    Redway Manor
  • Julia Aks
    Key Cast
    "Morbida"
    Into the Dark
  • Cesar Garcia
    Key Cast
    "El Toro"
    Breaking Bad
  • Christian Calloway
    Key Cast
    "Old Man Harris"
    The House with a Clock in Its Walls
  • Oscar Torre
    Key Cast
    "Mark Wood "
    The Hangover
  • Gloria Laino
    Key Cast
    "Maria De La Luz"
    American Horror Story
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Horror, Halloween, Drama
  • Runtime:
    32 minutes 49 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 21, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • IndieX Film Fest
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    Best Original Screenplay
Director Biography - Christopher Baiza

Christopher Baiza was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in East Los Angeles and South East regions. In 2011 Chris left University to focus on directing and acting. He was accepted to the world famous William Alderson Acting Studio in Los Angeles, California where many great performers studied under Mr. Alderson such as Luis Guzman, Allison Janney, Jon Voigt, and Jeff Goldblum studying the Meisner Technique and continue to be involved in the studio today. Christopher now focuses his talents toward writing, directing and editing original content. He resides in Los Angeles, California.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Just like Christmas has its joyful musical cheer, Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without jack-o-lanterns, zombies and trick or treating! WATER DAWG, written and directed by Christopher Baiza, is a fantasy-horror short that stars Christian Calloway (from Eli Roth’s The House with a Clock in its Walls ) as Old Man Harris, who tells the story to a group of young misfits played by actors Grayson Thorne Kilpatrick (from American Horror Story), Brent Anthony, and Norton Leufven, on Halloween night in “1979-to be exact” (as Calloway quotes in the fim). The story follows the main character WATER DAWG played by James L. Brewster alongside his trusty funeral-service assistant Julia Aks, playing opposite of character El Toro played by Cesar Garcia (from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) and Gloria Liano (from What We Do in the Shadows), who perform odd, psychedelic-like, funeral party services for family mourners in the Deep South during one cold Halloween night.

WATER DAWG is a fantasy-horror flick that features a festive operetta sound like a Broadway-based musical hook in between “psychedelic moments” where the characters in the story collide into a bizarre, enthusiastic and schizophrenic craze, giving the film a timeless quality sound and editing style.

In this film, much of the music is theatrically underpinning the rooted operetta style, and expresses the illustrative climax that drives the film into its epic ZOMBIE-ATTACKS!

Baiza’s focus was to bring a natural, Halloween spirit that would lift the spookiness off each climatic SLASH/edit. The writer/director spent nearly three years editing this Fantasy-horror short film before, and during the pandemic. Today, the film stands as one of the most anticipated fantasy-horror short films of its kind releasing later this year.

For this Halloween season adding to Baiza’s obsession with the Halloween genre, this project has driven him to create a uniquely crafted film to guarantee audiences goosebumps and a journey into the nostalgic era of the 80’s with a Creep Show feel.