A tree-planter documentary shot in Quesnel is set to premiere later this week on CBC Gem.
Block Dog is a 44 minute film that follows a crew of loyal dogs in a remote tree-planting camp.
Co-Producer Everett Bumstead said the story is based on a day in the life of a tree-planting dog.
“We shot it right outside of Quesnel right beside the Quesnel River as well as a couple of spots in town, the Rec Centre and the Laundromat, places where tree-planters go.” Bumstead said, “It’s a small story of eight dogs in a tree-planting camp and you get to experience what a day in their life is pretty much like.”
He said the concept for the documentary came from his own experience as a tree-planter wondering what your dog or cat is up to while you’re away at work.
“But when I was a tree-planter wondering what the dogs were up to is a whole different world. They’re venturing out in the forest, sometimes they come back and they have a bone from a moose or a deer skull or they have some battle wounds from who knows what kind of wildlife so the question kind of started from there, what are these dogs up to out in the bush.”
Bumstead noted why Quesnel was chosen as the location for this documentary is because the town and the whole Cariboo Region is such a hub for forestry which creates a space where tree-planting is required.
“I’ve been to Quesnel quite a few times over the last four years, I think I’ve been filming some tree-planting in the Quesnel area at least four out of those five years. It’s definitely a hub and place that forestry workers and tree-planters are very regularly.”
Bumstead said Block Dog will be fun to watch and enjoyable for the whole family, if you look at the peripheral you can really absorb a lot of what’s going on in BC in a tree-planting camp and down those logging roads.
Block Dog premieres Friday April 19th on CBC Gem which is available to stream for free.
–Â Files from Pat Matthews, My Cariboo Now