Ben Leonberg is the writer and director of Good Boy, the breakout indie horror film told entirely from the point of view of a dog. Shot over three years with a crew of three people and made for under seventy thousand dollars, Good Boy became a theatrical and streaming success, earning over $8 million at the box office, mostly due to its inventiveness, emotional depth, and commitment to a single, bold idea.

In this episode, Ben tells us the whole story behind Good Boy, from humble beginnings to box office breakout. He also gets into the details behind shooting horror from a dog’s point of view, the critical importance of sound design in horror, and the practical lessons he learned while shooting more than four hundred days with his dog Indie.

Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Ben Leonberg.

Limitations can be a feature, not a bug

Ben’s process making Good Boy was a masterclass in embracing creative limitations. From directing a dog who couldn’t take cues, to shooting without a traditional crew, all while working within a $70,000 budget, Ben built the film around his constraints instead of fighting them. He followed the classic Robert Rodriguez rule: write the movie around what you already have. In Ben’s case, that meant a dog and an old cabin.

He and his wife shot most of the movie themselves, structuring the entire production around their available resources. The mindset of designing a film around what you can uniquely do is a powerful model for indie filmmakers. In Ben’s case, those constraints led to a strikingly original idea: a horror movie told entirely from the perspective of a dog. That single choice shaped every creative decision; camera height, lensing, blocking, editing, sound, and pacing. What began as a limitation became the film’s identity.

Sound is vital for horror

As we’ve covered many times, in horror, sound goes a long way, and Jennifer Kent, Director of The Babadook, even says it’s just as important as your visuals. In Good Boy, which had minimal traditional exposition or visual cues, sound became essential—not just for scares, but for tone, tension, and atmosphere. Composer Sam Boutilier went so far as to build a custom instrument to create the film’s signature eerie, otherworldly tones that had never been heard before. For horror filmmakers working with limited budgets, sound design isn’t just a finishing touch but an opportunity to elevate the entire film.

A long production timeline can be an advantage

The film was shot over three years, across more than 400 shoot days. With such a small team and total control over gear and scheduling, Ben was able to work slowly and deliberately, testing ideas, reshooting scenes, refining edits, and evolving the movie over the course of years. In most productions, time is the scarcest and most expensive resource. But when you own the entire timeline, time becomes your biggest asset because it gives you the space to problem-solve creatively, discover better choices, and polish your film beyond the limits of its budget.

Show Notes

Movies Mentioned

Good Boy
Poltergeist
The Shining
Psycho
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Duel
Drag Me to Hell
The Innocents
Smile
One Bedroom
In a Violent Nature
101 Dalmatians

Follow Ben Leonberg at:

IMBd: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3828044/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_leonberg/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-leonberg-ab797556/
Website: https://www.benleonberg.com/