The Sheep Detectives, Kyle Balda Director Interview

I've loved stories about misfits who are, you know, trying to overcome odds that are much bigger than themselves. And "The Sheep Detectives" is exactly that. When I read the script, uh, just, you know, seeing how these sheep are trying to fumble their way through solving a murder mystery—something that's way, way over their heads.

First of all, it was so entertaining and it's rare that, you know, you read a script where you're just like laughing audibly at it, you know, because the jokes are so great, but it's also just so moving. And so being in the proximity of a lot of sheep farms in Oregon, uh, literally right after reading the script, uh, my wife and I drove out to a sheep farm and I started taking photos of sheep and started to, like, think about putting a point of view together for the, for the movie.

"The Sheep Detectives" is about a murder mystery. It's an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery but with sheep. And basically, uh, George Hardy, played by Hugh Jackman, is a shepherd who's murdered, and the sheep who love him so much, they take it upon themselves to try to solve his murder mystery. Uh, but at the core, it's really a story about like what the lengths we go for the ones we love. Uh, it's about memory, it's about grief, it's about, uh, just really showing up, you know, for the people we care about.

For the look and feel of "The Sheep Detectives," I wanted to just create a world that was both believable but also timeless. Uh, worked very closely with Suzy Davies, our production designer, who was, like, meticulous in the detail of, of, you know, creating this world with me. And one of the things that, um, was important, uh, was, you know, George's farm. Uh, George is a loner, he wants to be with his sheep, he's a little bit skeptical about the world around him. And his farm, you know, reflects that. It's basically when we're out at White Pond Farm where we shot that location, you know, you look at the horizon and you can't see any other visible, uh, settlements or anything like that. There's a little place which serves as our Dunbrook. But it was a great way for George to kind of hide away from the world and just be alone up there with his, his trailer on the mountain. Uh, the, the Airstream trailer itself was really important for me. But it ended up being a really great, um, placement, you know, for George to like be up there reading to his sheep. Uh, you know, you see the great vistas, you see the sunset, the golden light is reflecting off the Airstream, everything just sort of lit up.

Lindsey and I had a lot of discussions about the sheep themselves, you know. This is... it needs to be grounded in reality. Uh, the fact that we have talking sheep, they're not talking directly to any humans, they don't have a relationship with humans in that way, so they have to be realistic. So one of the ways that we wanted to handle the sheep is that they wouldn't do anything that sheep can't do, so they don't walk around on their hind legs or, you know, gesture with, you know, opposable thumbs or anything like that. They, they really remain, uh, anatomically as sheep and it's grounded that way. Uh, so that was one of the really key things in terms of the overall tone. Uh, another thing is that, you know, there's... there is some darkness in this movie. It is a murder mystery, and there are places where tonally we do go quite dark. Uh, you know, there's a long night scene, uh, towards the end. But that needed to be juxtaposed with something that feels really pastoral and happy and to kind of show the, the innocence of life on this farm. So, you know, trying to make sure that we balance the, the dark with the, you know, beautiful colors, beautiful nature, uh, and even just the, the colors and the design of the costumes, you know, to support all that.

Hugh Jackman is just incredible. Uh, the charisma that he has on screen doesn't stop when the cameras are off. Uh, he's just an incredibly nice person and such a pro. So, you know, he... he's such a beloved person that we wanted him to, you know, bring that to George. You know, we love George, the sheep love George. Uh, the amount of rooting interest that you have to have for the sheep to want to solve this guy's, you know, murder was really important, so Hugh really delivered that in a strong way.

Emma Thompson has such class and authority in a room. Uh, you know, she plays Lydia Harbottle. And she's the city lawyer that comes into the small town of Dunbrook and, you know, she has to basically babysit over a bunch of adult children who are bickering and fighting over the will, uh, and trying to manage them. And, you know, she does such a great job of commanding that. But one of the other things that, um, that Emma does so well is she creates this great juxtaposition, uh, with, with Nicholas Braun's character of Tim. You know, Tim is very, uh... he's a bit clumsy, he's a bit naive. You know, he's a one-town, one-cop town police officer who's never had to deal with anything more than like a missing sheep, you know? So dealing with a murder mystery, he's in way over his head. And Emma Thompson's character of having such confidence and authority juxtaposed against, uh, Nicholas Braun's character of Tim, you know, being way over in his head and, you know, just kind of bumbling his way through this, uh, just really helped with the paradoxical balance of those two characters.

Nicholas Braun, uh, was actually the first person I thought of when I read this script, even the, the first read-through. Uh, reading Officer Tim and just imagining how well he can embody that sense of, you know, naivete that still remains really charming. Uh, you know, he's, he's just kind of like faking it till he makes it as a police officer trying to solve a murder mystery, and, um, you know, hoping that nobody else around him can, can see that and Nicholas Braun just really just delivers that so strongly.

Graham Page, you know, bringing life with Framestore to the sheep and just the incredible performances they were able to, to, you know, get out of these, these animals, which are completely CG. There's not a... uh, there's very few real sheep in the movie. There's a couple that are off in the background, but, uh, everything that you're seeing is hand-animated by the animators at Framestore.

The main thing I hope audiences take away after watching "The Sheep Detectives" is that they just have a great time, you know, that they really enjoy the story, they enjoy these characters, uh, that they're entertained by it. But, you know, I do also hope that what they bring away from it is some of the values that are really, you know, ingrained in the story, the, the values about, about grief, the values about inclusion, uh, you know, that this could be a way for, you know, parents to have, like, deeper conversations with their kids after they see the film together.

The theatrical experience is so important for "The Sheep Detectives" because of how immersive it can be. And I just want the audience to just really go to George's farm, to really go to Dunbrook, to feel immersed in it, uh, to be there as, as much as possible without the distractions of the things around, you know, your daily life. Uh, seeing a film in a cinema is an event, and it's an event that we share with our family, with our loved ones, and it's an event that we share with all the people around us. And that really creates a much more memorable experience than I think seeing it, you know, on smaller screens.