On this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, host and Playlist EIC, Rodrigo Perez talks to Reid Carolin, the co-director and co-writer of "Dog" which he made with co-writer/co-director and star Channing Tatum. Tatum's been absent from the live-action big screen for nearly four years-- the actor needed a break after his divorce and was feeling disillusioned with the industry. But part of the reason he was gone for so long, in addition to his personal life, was trying to write, direct, produce and star in the 20th Century Fox, "X-Men" spin-off "Gambit.' The film was a big passion project to Tatum, but eventually fell apart after Fox was bought by Disney and absorbed into the greater Marvel brand.

But all that prep work prepared them for "Dog," a much-much different film, and a two-hander buddy comedy about a man and his... well, not-quite-best-friend yet. Tatum stars as a U.S. Army Ranger, battling PTSD and brain trauma, who is tasked with taking a military dog to the funeral of his handler.  It's also a road trip film, a soulful life-affirming drama as well as the quirky comedy of all the detours it takes. Think Hal Ashby if he listed to Jack Johnson while taking gummies.

In this episode, we get to all things "Dog," but we also dive into a lot of "Gambit," since that was the film that lead to dog, and also the "Magic Mike" series. Carolin and Tatum are the architects of the "Magic Mike" franchise and they've brought back original director Steven Soderbergh to helm, "Magic Mike 3: The Last Dance." Carolin talks about Soderbergh's mentorship to the two burgeoning filmmakers and gives us a taste of 'The Last Dance,' suggesting this is the closest Steven Soderbergh has ever gotten to making a full-blown musical. 

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