Winter in Dog Years is a loving tribute to both film noir mysteries and 1970’s paranoid thrillers. However, the film takes an inventive path within these frameworks by focusing on a hero who is not a reporter or detective or a private eye — but someone with significantly less agency — a gig economy dog walker.

Inspired by the beauty and history of the city of Baltimore, the film uses the framework of genre film to examine the city’s story and create a character piece studying the isolation of the digital age.

The short film version of Winter in Dog Years premiered in Baltimore at the 2024 New/Next Film Festival.

The feature film is being supported by the Saul Zaentz Fund for Innovation in Film and Media at Johns Hopkins.

written and directed by Marc Baker

produced by Dustin Nakao-Haider and Daniel April