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Reviled for millennia, the Brown rat is one of the most familiar creatures on the planet – but perhaps the least understood. We know more about life on Mars than how rats navigate life on Earth.
RAT CITY dives down the rathole to uncover remarkable superpowers that make Brown rats the evolutionary heroes of the animal kingdom, thriving in the urban landscape. Escape artists, problem solvers and master contortionists, they’re supremely equipped to infiltrate our world.
The film unmasks, and celebrates, humankind’s most reviled antagonists, and reveals that it’s really the human inhabitants that “set the table” for one of the planet’s ultimate survivors.
Featuring Bobby Corrigan, Kaylee Byers, Kelly Lambert, Dani Dumitriu, and Jonothon Lyons (aka “Buddy the Rat”).
Produced by Invert Films, in association with CBC, with the participation of Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and developed with the participation of Creative BC, and the Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC.
For 10,000 years, rats have haunted the darkest corners of our cities – and minds. They’re the stuff of nightmares, blamed for death and disease. But there’s much more to their story. Underneath that drab brown coat beats the heart of a hero…
RAT CITY invites viewers on a rollicking journey into the secret world of one of humankind’s oldest antagonists to reveal the remarkable superpowers that make rats the evolutionary champions of the animal kingdom.
Capitalizing on an age-old relationship of revulsion and fear, RAT CITY aims to exploit a predictable visceral response to grab viewers’ attention, and then transform their fear into fascination and, ultimately, admiration with mind-blowing information and world-class natural history cinematography.
For over 25 years Director Jeff Morales’ creative and playful narrative style has revealed the remarkable lives of underappreciated and misunderstood wild creatures. For Morales and producer Bryan Sullivan, the Brown rat offers a perfect opportunity to reframe the rodent-human narrative. Reviled for millennia, this ubiquitous mammal is one of the most familiar creatures on the planet – but perhaps the least understood. We know more about life on Mars than how rats navigate life on Earth.
Rats present an ideal vehicle for informing while entertaining. The subject has tremendous potential for adapting a captivating and quirky approach to visual storytelling. Revealing this story from the rat’s perspective, RAT CITY will enters their shadowy world and explores the inner sanctum of the rat-human interface to better understand why they are one of the planet’s ultimate survivors. How do they live their day-to-day lives? What challenges do they face as they navigate the underworld and the messy abundance of modern life? What adaptations have enabled them to survive and thrive?
As viewers learn more about these evolutionary heroes, a new understanding emerges regarding how humans can coexist with, and potentially benefit from, these furry home invaders — from strategies to manage the stress of daily living to understanding how disease spreads. And while exploring a history fraught with conflict, viewers will also meet rat champions spreading the message of rat fandom. Emerging neurological science is explored alongside a globetrotting performance artist, “Buddy the Rat”, who makes amused and disconcerted onlookers consider our fraught relationship face to face.
From subterranean haunts of rat dynasties, to the bustling streets of Vancouver and Manhattan, RAT CITY is a playful and informative romp through the lives of humankkind’s unsavory partners in civilization. RAT CITY employs dramatic and high-end set work, innovative and cutting-edge imaging gathering tools, compelling music tracks and a non-traditional narrative approach to take the viewer into the darkest crevices, hidden spaces and mysterious underworld where human and rat worlds collide.
Urban Rodentologist
Bobby Corrigan has been active in the science of pest control for over 30 years starting as a pest control technician running a route in NYC for three years full time while saving for college. After graduate school, Bobby taught and conducted research on rodent control at Purdue University for 16 years.
Dr. Corrigan has authored or co-authored dozens of technical and refereed research papers current through 2022 as well as co-authoring three textbooks and their multiple editions including the 1) The Scientific Guide to Pest Management Operations; 2) A Professional’s Guide to Rodent Control and the
Mallis Handbook of Pest Control.
Bobby is an invited lecturer on global scale and has appeared in Time Magazine; the New York Times, The Washington Post. He conducts ongoing Podcasts and interviews for PBS and NPR, the CBC and has made multiple appearances in several documentaries and movies during the past 5 years, including two scheduled for release late 2022 and early 2023.
Bobby holds his B.S degree in urban entomology and his Ph.D. degree in urban rodentology from Purdue.
Dr. Corrigan was inducted into the Pest Control Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wildlife Health Biologist
Dr. Kaylee Byers is the Deputy Director of the British Columbia Node of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, and a Research Associate with the Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics, and Society at Simon Fraser University. She is a health scientist and communications researcher investigating innovative ways to improve the health of people, wildlife and ecosystems. Kaylee also hosts Genome British Columbia’s podcast Nice Genes! which explores how genomics can help to understand the world around us.
Behavioural Neuroscientist
Physician Scientist
Dr. Dumitriu is trained as a general pediatrician, neuroscientist and pediatric environmental health scientist. She joined Columbia University as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (in Psychiatry) in November 2018. She dedicates 80% of her time to translational research into the neurobiological basis of resilience across species and modalities as the Principal Investigator of the DOOR (Developmental Origins of Resilience) lab at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and 20% of her time to caring for newborns as a pediatric hospitalist in the Well Baby Nursery at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
Performance Artist, “Buddy the Rat”
Jonothon Lyons is a New York based interdisciplinary theater artist. Written works include The Apple Boys, raved in The New Yorker in 2018 for having a “wonderfully fun yet tightly constructed book”, The Tenement (2010 NY IT Award for Outstanding Original Short Script) and Ensō (2013 Jim Henson Foundation Seed Grant).
Performance credits include Blue Man Group, Sleep No More, and Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly at The Metropolitan Opera. His viral street performance character “Buddy the Rat” has garnered over 2 billion views online and nearly 4.5 million followers across all social media. He can be found on all platforms @jonothonlyons.
EP/Director/DOP
During his 25-year filmmaking career, Jeff’s intimate portrayals of wild characters have revealed the remarkable worlds of creatures large and small for National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet, the BBC, and The Nature Conservancy. While a staff producer-director at National Geographic Television Jeff’s films garnered four National Emmy awards and ten National Emmy nominations. Jeff has also worked on numerous CBC projects including three elephant films, The Secret Life of Owls, and the CSA winning series The Wild Canadian Year. His recent credits include Great Lakes Untamed, America’s Wild Border: Northern Exposure, and America’s Wild Seasons.
EP/Producer/Camera/Editor
Bryan Sullivan is a producer, director, cinematographer and editor with 25 years experience. He specializes in developing, producing, and delivering global content one-offs and series for broadcast, premium content for digital distribution, and high-end educational, training, and promotional content for the public and private sectors. His recent credits include Great Lakes Untamed, America’s Wild Border: Northern Exposure (Best Editing & Best Cinematography nominations – 2021 Leo Awards), America’s Wild Seasons, Takaya: Lone Wolf (Best Documentary Program win at 2021 Canadian Screen Awards), and The Secret Life of Owls (Best Editing & Best Cinematography nominations – 2018 Leo Awards).
Writer
Catharine works as a writer on documentary programs and series, including the episode, The Secret Life of Owls for CBC’s The Nature of Things; Polar Bear Town, a series set in “the polar bear capital of the world” for the Smithsonian Channel; Wild Bear Rescue a series featuring the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter for Animal Planet Canada; and Heavy Rescue: 401, a series that follows heavy rescue tow operators for Discovery Channel Canada.
Composer
Patric Caird is a multi award winning composer for film and television. He has composed in all genres from drama to comedy, animation to horror, for everything from small indie films to major network television series and theater.
An enthusiastic collaborator with a passion for storytelling in sound, his flexible, unique voice is a valuable addition to hundreds of projects.
Researcher
Ever-curious and a stickler for accuracy, Kim’s research has contributed to the pages of National Geographic Magazine, The Congressional Record, and more recently, over a dozen natural history films, including America’s Wild Border: Northern Exposure, and America’s Wild Seasons (Love Nature / Smithsonian Channel).
Sound Supervisor/Mixer
Ewan Deane has over 30 years experience as an audio engineer, re-recording mixer, and sound supervisor. He started his career in the music industry working with Vancouver’s best musicians and composers. Transitioning into documentaries, feature films and television, Ewan has elevated himself to a senior position in Vancouver Post Production community. Ewan has been nominated for 3 Emmy’s, multiple Gemini’s, has won 7 Leo Awards, and in 2017 he won a Leo and a Canadian Screen Award for Sonic Magic – The Wonder of Science and Sound in the Best Sound Category. In 2022 he won an Emmy for mixing Octonaughts-Ring of Fire in the best overall sound category.