The client required a large, imposing pig to convey the emotional contrast between a loving young family and the confronting reality of raising a piglet for food, a powerful and challenging story for audiences.

Dark Horse Productions, Australia’s leading animal training and wrangling company for film, television and advertising, collaborated closely with the directors, producers and creative team to select the perfect animal actor and develop a detailed on-screen training program.

To meet demanding filming schedules and ensure the highest standards of animal welfare, Dark Horse Productions provided a hero pig actor, a backup pig actor and two piglet actors. This allowed for rotation between animals, proper rest periods and scene-specific training. Each pig was conditioned for only one or two scenes, ensuring a consistent, believable and humane performance across the entire production.

The pigs were carefully selected based on prior socialisation and acclimatisation to human environments, supporting calm, confident behaviour on set. The training process began with extensive desensitisation work, followed by teaching each behaviour individually before combining them into complete scene sequences. Using positive reinforcement and reward-based methods, the hero pig quickly developed enthusiasm for the work and strong engagement with trainers.

Throughout filming, Dark Horse Productions supervised the cast and crew, providing on-set guidance, safety coordination and welfare oversight. Adjustments were made to the set design and filming locations to create a pig-friendly environment, ensuring all animals’ comfort and wellbeing during long production days.

When not performing, the pigs relaxed in a custom mobile trailer, providing shelter, water, rest and enrichment between takes.

By combining ethical animal training, detailed production planning and expert welfare management, Dark Horse Productions delivered a compelling, emotionally authentic on-screen performance, showcasing how professional animal action specialists can elevate storytelling while maintaining best-practice welfare standards.

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