Behind the scenes: Neither Wolf Nor Dog

The subject of a new drama about Native American Indians which features actors with connections to the Battle of Little Big Horn is extraordinary in itself but equally incredible is the story of the film’s production and distribution which has defied decades of Hollywood logic.

Neither Wolf Nor Dog is an ultra-low budget road movie shot on location in a native American reservation and featuring 95-year old star Dave Bald Eagle, who acted in films with Errol Flynn and Marilyn Monroe and whose grandfather fought General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.

Based on a 1995 novel by Kent Nerburn, the contemporary story culminates at Wounded Knee, site of the notorious massacre of the Lakato tribe by the 7^th Calvary in 1890 in revenge for Big Horn.

Scottish filmmaker Steven Lewis Simpson knew that traditional film distributors would have no idea how to access the core audience for the film, so he opted to bypass them and self-fund distribution directly to cinemas.

Two years on and counting, the film has played in over 200 theatres in the US becoming one of the biggest self-distributed films of recent years and the longest…