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Give a Hoot or Die

GIVE A HOOT OR DIE

When nature is treated as disposable, it eventually fights back.

An eco-action short film built with practical effects, puppetry, and a seven-foot owl suit. No CGI shortcuts. No generative AI. Just humans making weird stuff with their hands.

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The Story

COMING SOON

We shot the first Give a Hoot or Die in 2017 as college students with a cheap owl costume and a DSLR. It won a small local film festival. Then we moved to Los Angeles and spent a decade working in film and television.

Now, with practical effects being abandoned for digital shortcuts and generative AI threatening to flatten the entire artform, it feels like the right time to revisit this absurd kung fu owl. This time, we're doing it right: full creature suit, puppetry, miniatures, and a real commitment to physical filmmaking.

Give a Hoot or Die: Reduce, Revenge, Recycle is an eco-action-comedy short that proves you can still make something weird, handmade, and fun.

The Method

Contemporary filmmaking increasingly relies on digital fixes rather than solving problems on set. Decisions get pushed downstream to post instead of being solved on set. We're going back to a more physical, intentional approach.

This film will be built using:

We'll still use digital tools where necessary, often as a gag in itself. But we draw a hard line at generative AI. We're also committing to an eco-conscious, carbon-positive production wherever possible.

HUMANS (AND OWLS) ONLY

No generative AI. Not in the script, not in the visuals, not in the process. People make weird, imperfect things better than algorithms ever will.

The Vision

Give a Hoot or Die is a myth, not a franchise. Like Godzilla or Heracles, the Owl can appear in different stories, different genres, different timelines. We already have a feature script written. We see this character as a constant: a force of nature that hits back when the woods are treated like a landfill.

This short is the first entry in a larger fable compendium. But it stands alone. You don't need homework to enjoy a kung fu owl beating up litterers.

The Short

A self-contained film built on practical stunts and a physical creature suit. We're taking inspiration from 70s kung fu cinema, 80s creature features, and 90s anime.

The Future

We already have a feature script written and ready. We hope the Owl legend will span multiple stories and genres, each one independent but connected by theme.

The Craft

We want extensive behind-the-scenes coverage. See exactly how we build this world by hand. Follow the creative process from concept to completion.

About the Team

Wil Boyens, Otto Gaiser, Zach Trout, and Zack Bartlett met at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, studying Film and New Media at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. The four formed a creative partnership, making no-budget absurdist shorts and sketches under the name The WOZZ Collective. After graduating, they moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers in film.

Zack Bartlett and Zach Trout work as a Gaffer and Key Grip team. Together they founded Z&Z G&E, a lighting equipment rental company known for its fleet of grip trucks and its oddly popular Instagram presence built on intentionally awkward promotional videos.

Otto Gaiser is a cinematographer, director, and gaffer who frequently collaborates with Z&Z. He's gained a following on social media under the name "Daddies Little Helper" for his absurdist comedy work.

Wil Boyens pursued animation, working on several animated features before transitioning to video game trailer animation and digital puppetry. He's an obsessive cinephile (averaging two theater visits per week) and has developed numerous original scripts over the years.

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