“Hangdog,” an independent film executive-produced by Peterborough resident Jamieson Shea, tells the story of a young couple, Wendy and Walt,  who flee New York City during the pandemic and resettle in Portland, Maine. 

When Wendy leaves town, having entrusted Walt to look after her beloved dog Tony, the dog vanishes, and Walt ends up on a wild goose chase all over Portland. 

“And then, hilarity ensues,” said Shea. “We think it is very relatable, very funny, very human.”

The film “Hangdog” is  the debut narrative feature of  husband-and-wife pair of director Matt Cascella and writer Jen Cordery. It will screen at the Peterborough Community Theatre on Friday night, Oct. 11,  at 7 p.m. 

“It reflects Matt and Jen’s personal story of moving to Maine during the pandemic,” Shea said. “It’s set in Portland, and it’s a comedy with all these quirky characters. It’s a great feel-good story.”

The movie is based on Cascella’s experience of being the “third wheel” when he first met Cordery and her dog, Ollie. 

“I was competing with the dog for her affections for the better part of a year,” Cascella stated. 

“Hangdog” stars Desmin Borges as Walt and Kelly O’Sullivan as Wendy. Borges currently appears in “Only Murders in the Building” on Hulu. Sullivan, a writer, director and actor, starred in the independent film “Saint Frances.”

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“Hangdog,” which premiered at the Provincetown International Film Festival in 2023, won Audience Choice awards at the 2023 New Hampshire Film Festival and the 2024 Woods Hole Film Festival. It will be available through Apple TV and on Prime Video starting on Oct. 25. 

The film is the third of Shea’s productions to be screened at the Peterborough Community Theatre. Most recently, the theater screened “Another Happy Day,” for which Shea  was co-executive producer. In 2023, the theater showed “Merry Good Enough,” a holiday film written by Caroline Keene,  co-directed by Dan Kennedy and produced by Shea. 

“I am so grateful for (theater owner Vanessa Amsbury-Bonilla’s) help and the support from the Peterborough theater,” Shea said. “For a town this size, it is absolutely wild how much is happening in the arts. There is always something going on, and I am constantly meeting new people who have these incredible stories and are doing all these cool things, and that is what I really love about Peterborough.” 

Shea, who grew up in Leominster Mass., moved to Peterborough eight years ago to be close his wife’s family. He has been producing independent films for five years. Before that, he worked in production between New York and Los Angeles for 10 years. Most recently, Shea was technical advisor for “Castle Rock,” a scripted series produced by Stephen King. 

Shea runs his production company, Owl Tree Productions, from his Peterborough office. He also worked on “Don’t Look Up,”  with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, which was one of the few films to be produced during the pandemic.

“I was part of a small group of people in the film industry who helped get Hollywood back to to work during the pandemic,” Shea said. “I have also been a full-time paramedic and firefighter, and during the pandemic, the studios reached out to people in the business who had medical backgrounds, and we helped get policies in place and figure out procedures for allowing people to work safely.”

“And we did that all from Peterborough,” he adds. 

For information about “Hangdog,”  go to imdb.com/title/tt15225614.