A young quadriplegic rebuilds his life with the help of an unlikely service animal in Director Nick Hamm’s drama, Gigi & Nate.
Based on true events, Hamm’s film tells the story of Nate Gibson, a young man whose life is turned upside down after he suffers a near-fatal accident. Although moving for-ward seems impossible to him, he finds much needed hope with the assistance of Gigi, a curious and intelligent capuchin monkey trained to assist Nate with his basic needs.
On September 11, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Hamm discussed the making of Gigi & Nate during a Q&A moderated by Director Ben Lewin (Falling for Figaro).
During the conversation, Hamm spoke about how the film was inspired by a series of factual relationships between service animals and humans.
“I started to investigate stories which involved an emotional bond between a service animal and people. Even though the movie is based upon one story, it really is inspired by the generality of what it means to have a relationship between an animal and a disabled individual.”
He also shared his insight on the evolution of the animal actor’s skills through the course of production.“We had an animal who understood the art of acting at the end of the process of moviemaking. When they first walked on set, they understood one thing and at the end of the six-week process, they understood something else and that was an extraordinary thing to witness for me. There is a whole element of working with an animal and all of the people that attend to the animal.”
Hamm’s other directorial credits include the feature films Driven, The Journey, Killing Bono, Godsend, The Hole, Talk of Angels and The Very Thought of You; the movies for television Dancing Queen, Briefest Encounter, Micky Love and Soldier Soldier; and episodes of the series White Lines, Full Circle, Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, Rogue, Off the Hook, The Play on One, and The Bill.
Hamm has been a DGA member since 2012.
You can listen to Hamm's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.