Rob Thompson, an Ottawa-based producer from Winter Films, is having the curious experience of watching his one-hour doc turn into a media event which he describes as bigger than the actual $80,000 documentary itself.

Several years ago Thompson read about a woman in England who offered $15,000 to anyone who could live like a battery hen for one week. Apparently four chicken farmers thought they could earn some not-too-arduous scratch, but gave up the challenge after 18 hours.

Per Thompson: ‘This struck me as an incredible story to build a documentary around, one that could look at the double standard people have in regards to treatment of pets as opposed to animals in the food industry.’

Thompson then set about issuing a similar challenge in Canada – $2,500 to whoever could stay in a chicken coop for seven days – and is video-chronicling the results. The working title of the project is Wire.

On Oct. 4, Ottawa residents Pam Meldrum and Eric Wolf won the dubious honor (from over 80 wannabes) to spend a week in a cage, which Thompson describes as long enough to lie down in but not tall enough to stand erect. Their diet consists of vegetarian mash three times a day and water from a hose. Amenities run to a chemical toilet attached to the cage.

Thompson reports that in response to the national media attention his doc is garnering, the Egg Marketing Board released a statement assuring that laying hens are very well treated. ‘I plan to capture these events as they develop as another through line for the doc.’

Asked what would provide viewer intrigue, given the restrictions for action from the cage-dwellers, Thompson replies that the project has already shown itself to have a great deal of inherent drama. Thompson shot the selection process, capturing the motivation of the cage candidates: a young woman whose father was in prison felt the experience would give her empathy; one couple were willing to get married in the cage; a young man who had spent a year in the woods thought it would help him reintegrate into society.

‘The image of two people trying to live like animals and their daily struggle to remain in the cage for money, will, I think, provide a fascinating story to build the rest of my documentary around,’ says Thompson. ‘For me it all comes down to money, we let animals suffer for cheap prices at the store. We also let the poor, the elderly and the mentally ill struggle on a daily basis because we don’t want high taxes.

‘Another aspect for me is advertising that disassociates the consumer from the animals they eat. The person painted like a cow, living a fun-filled and energetic life, cut to the dairy cattle tethered in their stalls during the winter, only able to take a few steps back and forth.’

Principal photography over the last two weeks of October sees Thompson interviewing those involved with the issue of animal rights.

Curiosities Thompson turned up include a man who dressed up in a duck suit and protested outside a local bagel shop against pate made from force-fed ducks. Ironically, during the protest, bagel sales went up 40%.

Thompson reports interest from tvontario for From the Heart, and he is also approaching Channel 4. Financing has come from small grants, including the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton and the Ontario Arts Council.

Thompson is in talks with the National Film Board on a documentary on Minniejean Brown Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine who moved up from the States and now lives in Ottawa.

Thompson’s producer/director filmography comprises 40 titles over 15 years, including: Video Revolution, a look at how video is being used by social activists around the world; Bonehead, how neo-Nazis recruit young people; and Club Vivisextion, a short drama about a country girl who inherits a brothel in the city.