An Interview with Kris Smith, Director of Diamond Dogs

by Mike Haberfelner

September 2025

Films directed by Kris Smith on (re)Search my Trash

Your new movie Diamond Dogs - in a few words, what's it about?

It’s a 2 hour crime caper comedy feature about two accomplices who team up for one last heist. They plan and recruit some unusual associates in order to make it as elaborate as possible, but there are many problems along the way. Think Ocean’s Eleven meets Snatch.

With Diamond Dogs being a heist movie, is that a genre at all dear to you, and ome of your genre favourites?

I’m a big fan of crime/gangster movies - anything that’s high or low budget production. Love movies such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Dog Day Afternoon (1975).

What do you think makes Diamond Dogs stick out of the crowd of heist movies?

Most heist movies tend to always be about the stress and betrayal during the job, and it’s usually taken seriously. This time I wanted to approach it differently, focusing on the dynamic relationships and interactions between characters

(Other) sources of inspiration when writing Diamond Dogs?

For me when the concept was building, I was always using inspirations like Point Break (1991) and Snatch (2000) due to their dry witty banter during unfortunate circumstances. The cast would watch our reference movies like The Italian Job (1969) and Guy Ricthie films. A real life robbery about the Hatton Garden Heist back in 2015 was major inspiration as I liked the idea of old somewhat retired crooks teaming up for the ‘ultimate score’.

What can you tell us about Diamond Dogs' co-writer Joseph Betts, and what was the writing process like?

Joseph is a fantastic writer as he focuses on detail and humour within the script. He humanises the characters and doesn’t make them so one-dimensional. We wouldn’t necessarily write in the same room together, but we would meet up multiple times to discuss jokes we found amusing and where the story would take place. I can say on behalf of Joe and I that the original script wasn’t so foul-mouthed as the finished product shows.

You have worked with Joseph Betts a few times before - so what can you tell us about your previous collaborations?

Joseph has co-written another film I previously made, Z-Listers, which can be viewed on YouTube. He not only has co-produced my earlier work but he has been on set a number of times, being a second unit-director on certain days, being a production assistant or even script-supervisor to support with continuity.

Back to Diamond Dogs: Do talk about your movie's brand of comedy!

The comedy is very much dry and witty in dialogue. There will be some ridiculous situations that hopefully should make you chuckle, however I’m not expecting the audience to laugh at intended moments.

A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?

I never wanted anything unnatural out of the cast, so I would want them to improvise or come up with ideas themselves to make the scene flow naturally rather than sticking to a script word-for-word.

What can your cast, and why exactly these people?

I’ve worked with most of the cast from the previous film we made, Buying Time (2024), and we got on so well then so it was no-brainer really!

Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere!

The atmosphere was always professional and fun. Crew would take the shoot seriously and stick to the schedule. But like the characters, we’d also banter at one another and there was never any animosity on set. Best crew I’ve ever worked with!

The $64-question of course, where can Diamond Dogs be seen?

It's going through the rounds of being selected for video-on-demand platforms and film festivals such as Amazon Prime, Tubi or Fawesome. There is a Vimeo pay-per-view option that has been shared on the Facebook page and on the Aturn Films website.

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Diamond Dogs?

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Kris Smith at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Kris Smith here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Any future projects you'd like to share?

Oh yes please! Myself and Andy Blithe will be partnering up once more for the sequel of our previous feature Buying Time, which will be bigger, better and more ambitious than the first.

Thanks for the interview!

© by Mike Haberfelner

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