Smallbiz/lk1ST/mark2nd
By NOLA L. SARKISIAN
Staff Reporter
Amid the chaos on the set of the CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” one cast member sits unfazed on the flowered couch Shamsky the English bulldog.
Watching his trainer’s hand signals off the set, Shamsky dutifully obeys the command to “stay.” That’s harder than it looks, according to Rob Bloch, owner of Critters of the Cinema, one of Hollywood’s top resources for training and supplying animals.
Bloch’s 18-year-old company has supplied animal actors to some 2,000 movies, television shows and commercials, including “Romancing the Stone,” “Police Academy II,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Cagney & Lacey.”
As viewers grow accustomed to seeing animals tout the benefits of beer and fast food as well as provide cute companionship to the hottest sitcom stars it’s easy to forget that just like actors, animals need time to learn the biz. Most critters require at least two years of training before they’re able to shine, Bloch said.
“For a dog to become a studio dog takes time,” he said. “We have to get the dog to look afraid when he’s not, tired when he’s not, and to ‘stay’ under all circumstances. The dog has to emote and it’s not as easy as it looks. Those not familiar with an animal often don’t give adequate prep time just like an actor needs.”
Bloch stumbled into this line of work after discovering that he had a way with animals. Aimless after completing a stint in the Navy, he enrolled at Moorpark College’s exotic animal and training management program. After getting some experience working with established trainers, he set out on his own in 1980.
Glamorous, it wasn’t.
“I opened up shop in a one-bedroom apartment in Van Nuys where no animals were allowed,” he said. As his litter grew, Bloch upgraded to a guest cottage in Hawthorne, then to Sylmar and Sun Valley.
“What I was doing was illegal and I kept getting kicked out,” he said. “L.A. County said you could have only three dogs, three cats and three parrots, and I had more than that. Finally, enough was enough.”
In 1988, Bloch moved to a 30-acre ranch in Lake Hughes, about an hour north of Los Angeles where he now resides with 52 dogs, 65 house cats, 100 pigeons, 20 doves and 50 rats.
His company employs 10 independently contracted trainers and four full-time workers. Revenues last year were around $500,000, up from $11,000 when Bloch launched his company.
Like most actors and agents, Bloch’s life can be feast or famine. Sometimes, he’ll be working on just a couple of projects, other times as many as 15. Competition has grown fierce, he said, with about 35 animal suppliers in the Los Angeles area, compared to a handful about 20 years ago.
Daily rates normally run $250 for a team of cats, $300 for one dog, $1,000 for a tiger and $2,000 for an elephant. The Screen Actors Guild’s minimum day rate for a human performer is $576.
Bloch has built quite a resume in recent years, working with Moe the shar pei on the NBC sitcom “Suddenly Susan”; a three-feline team for a Fancy Feast cat food ad; and 40 cats for the Got Milk campaign.
“We work with him all the time, he’s the only one we use,” said Don Anderson, production manager for Venice-based Backyard Productions, which recently used one of Bloch’s Jack Russell terriers for an MCI commercial. “The animals are well-trained, he’s quick to respond and reasonable.”
“There aren’t too many dogs on sitcom land,” added Randy Suhr, first assistant director on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” “They have a short attention span and by the time you need them, they may be tired or need a break or food. The trainer really calls the shots with their animals to get the job done and as quickly as possible.”
The treatment of animals in television and film production has been closely monitored ever since a horse was killed by dynamite in 1980 during the filming of “Heaven’s Gate.”
The Denver-based American Humane Association, which collaborated on 860 productions last year compared to 45 in 1980, has set up 92 guidelines to ensure animal safety on the set.
“The biggest difficulty in dealing with animals is that they don’t read the script,” said Gini Barrett, director of the association’s Western regional office in Sherman Oaks. “There are often unrealistic expectations on the part of producers of what an animal can do at the spur of a moment.”
Like any agent, Bloch needs a steady stream of new faces to keep his inventory fresh, and adds five or six dogs a year. Between 70 percent to 80 percent are rescued from shelters and trained for the movies.
And just as in Hollywood, the better you look, the more you’re likely to work.
“Male animals tend to be prettier and they can handle the pressure better,” Bloch said. “Look at the beautiful manes of male lions and the green heads and stripes of the mallard ducks. It varies through the kingdom. I don’t know about ants and cockroaches.”
