Charismatic kelpie wanted for just-announced Red Dog follow-up

THE hunt is on to find a young canine actor with enough chops to play Red Dog in follow-up to 2011 sleeper hit.

Koko is the dog appearing in new 2011 Australian film 'Red Dog', based on the book by Louis de Bernieres.

THE hunt is on to find a young canine actor with enough chops to play Red Dog in the just- announced follow-up, which is scheduled to start filming in West Australia’s Pilbara region early next year.

“I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s kind of an origin story about how the legend of Red Dog was born, where he came from,” said director Kriv Stenders, who will be reunited with producer Nelson Woss, screenwriter Daniel Taplitz and trainer Luke Hura on the $8 million project, Blue Dog.

He nailed the audition ... Koko’s screen test was a winner. Picture: Supplied

Stenders said no one could replace Koko, the charismatic red cloud kelpie who played the lead role in the original 2011 film – a sleeper hit that became the first non-studio funded feature in more than two decades to crack the magic $20 million mark at the Aussie box office.

“But again without giving too much away, it’s a story about a legend. It’s a role that I think another dog out there will be more than able to fill.”

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Koko, who died in 2012 from congestive heart disease, was discovered during an intensive three-month audition process.

“Some people are stars,’’ said Woss at the time. “You don’t know what it is about them, but they change the temperature of the room.”

The team behind Blue Dog has already seen between 30 and 50 animals in their quest to find an animal that can match Koko on the big screen.

Scene-stealing performance ... on set with Rachael Taylor. Picture: Supplied.

“Casting Red Dog is a critical part of the process and it has already begun,’’ said Stenders.

“It’s similar to casting an actor in that you are still ultimately looking for a dog with that X-factor.

“They have got to have screen presence, when you point a camera at them, they have got to be able to come to life.

“Then, it’s a matter of getting them technically up to speed - getting them aware of marks, where to stand, how to deliver their lines, how to motivate themselves, all that stuff that actors do.”

While stressing that he was still some way away from inking a paw print – the first Red Dog proved unsuitable after the first month’s training -Stenders was quietly optimistic that he had already found his leading man.

A terrific double act ... Koko and producer Nelson Woss. Picture: Darren McNamara

“There’s actually one remarkable dog that we are very excited about.”

The human cast has still to be announced, but Stenders said there were a lot of great roles.

“And we have got one announcement that hopefully we will make quite soon.”

Final filming dates, said Stenders, would be dependent on the weather and animal availability.

But hopefully the cameras would start rolling early next year.

“It’s a big, complex movie shot in the Outback with dogs. It takes a lot of planning,’’ said Woss.

The producer confirmed that he was also still working on Red Dog the Musical with leading theatre producer John Frost.

Blue Dog was one of 12 projects Screen Australia invested in in its final round of drama funding for the financial year.

The national film funding body’s contribution of $4.5 million across two feature films, one television series and nine mulitplatform programs would trigger production worth more than $25 million, according to CEO Graeme Mason.