A DOG’S WAY HOME (2019) Production Notes
Everything You Need to Know
“We all have really deep needs for connection, belonging, purpose, safety, expression and autonomy,” says Ashley Judd, star of the new film A Dog’s Way Home .
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“A DOG’S WAY HOME”
Production Information
A Dog’s Way Home chronicles the heartwarming adventure of Bella, a dog who embarks on an epic 400-mile journey home after she is separated from her beloved human, Lucas, an aspiring med student and VA hospital volunteer. Bella touches the lives of many during her unwavering quest; from an orphaned mountain lion cub to a homeless veteran down on his luck, Bella brings joy and comfort to everyone she meets with her unique spirit and faith. Based on the bestselling novel by the beloved author of A Dog’s Purpose , A Dog’s Way Home is an emotionally charged and uplifting spiritual odyssey that follows one dog’s journey home that highlights the power of unconditional love between a dog and her owner.
Columbia Pictures presents in association with Bona Film Group Co., Ltd., a Pariah production, A Dog’s Way Home. Starring Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, with Wes Studi and Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed by Charles Martin Smith. Produced by Gavin Polone. Screenplay by W. Bruce Cameron & Cathryn Michon, based on the book by W. Bruce Cameron. Executive producers are Robert J. Dohrmann, T. D. Jakes, Derrick Williams, Yu Dong, and Jeffrey Chan. Director of Photography is Peter Menzies, Jr. ACS. Production Designer is Eric Fraser. Edited by Debra Neil-Fisher ACE, David Clark, and Sabrina Plisco, ACE. Costume Designer is Monique Prudhomme. Music by Mychael Danna.
A Dog’s Way Home has been rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for Thematic Elements, Some Peril and Language. The film will be released in theaters nationwide on January 11, 2019.
ABOUT THE FILM
“We all have really deep needs for connection, belonging, purpose, safety, expression and autonomy,” says Ashley Judd, star of the new film A Dog’s Way Home . “In the movie, Bella gets to have her family of choice, which we all have the gift of finding in this life. We’ve got the families into which we are born, and we get to make a chosen family, and that’s what happens to Bella. When she gets separated from that family, she’s willing to go to extraordinary lengths to be home. It’s an epic adventure.”
That adventure is based on the bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, who, with his wife, Cathryn Michon, would adapt it into a screenplay. “This story is about true love,” says Cameron. “Here’s a dog that goes through so many adventures and trials, and it’s all about getting back to her person. I think anybody who has had a dog will recognize the unconditional love these animals can give, and will find it in their heart to embrace that message.”
There’s nothing like the bond between dog and person, adds Michon. “Bella loves many people, but she and her human have a soul bond, and that soul bond is the spiritual story and the heart of this film.”
The film stars Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Edward James Olmos, Alexandra Shipp, and Wes Studi – all fine actors in their own right – but at the center of the film is the lead role of Bella, the charming and captivating dog whose story this is.
Bryce Dallas Howard provides the voice of Bella. “When I met Shelby, the dog who plays Bella, we were instant BFFs,” says Howard. “She just instantly felt like a friend. I think that’s something you feel whenever you meet any kind of animal, because they’re so present, but there really is something special about Shelby. She’s a beautiful, sincere, brilliant, super adorable dog.”
“I’ve had pets my whole life,” she continues. “When I was very young, one-and-a-half years old, I was quiet and serious – I didn’t laugh or anything like that. Then my parents adopted a dog, a terrier. And suddenly, from the other room they heard a crazy noise, a belly laugh that sounded like it came from a grown person. And it was me, playing tug-of-war with the dog, at 18 months old. That was the birth of my insane laugh – my first pet.”
“Having a relationship with dogs and other animals is one of the most important aspects of my life,” says Howard. “There’s nothing like it in the world. Nothing feels more unconditional, or safe, or fun.”
Though Howard would provide Bella’s voice, the first and most important challenge in producing the movie, says producer Gavin Polone, was casting the role for the on-screen performance. From the beginning, Polone was committed to finding a rescue dog.
“I wanted to advocate for dogs being adopted from shelters,” says Polone. “When you buy a dog, you’re feeding money into a cycle that leads to more animal death. In the US, there are about four million cats and dogs put to death every year. If you truly care about animals, it’s a huge waste and an awful thing. Animals are sentient beings and they are worthy of respect, so I don’t think treating them like designer objects – which is really what dog breeding is about – is the right way to go.”
Naturally, it was a choice that the film’s screenwriters, the husband-and-wife team of W. Bruce Cameron & Cathryn Michon, supported. “It truly was a nationwide search in terms of looking at shelter dogs all over America,” says Michon. “We were looking at photos and videotape of dogs everywhere.”
After looking online at thousands of dogs in shelters and rescues, the search paid off in Tennessee, at the Cheatham County Animal Control Center, where Bella was cast – Shelby won the part. Later, the production would also rescue Amber, Shelby’s stand-in, from another facility, in South Carolina. At the time of filming, Shelby was one-and-a-half years old while Amber was about two-and-a-half.
“At first, we were inspired by Bruce Cameron’s imagination and the character that he put on the cover of his book, and Shelby’s photograph spoke a million words. Ultimately, though, you can’t just have a great look – you’ve got to have the heart inside,” says Bella Team Lead Trainer Teresa A. Miller. “It was really important to have a dog that had a lot of energy and the physicality to perform the action – climbing and jumping and sliding. But I also was looking for a dog that just had that thing in her eyes, and Shelby has it – you can see the love and heart in her eyes. She’s not shy at all and is a really nice, outgoing dog. I think the character Bella and Shelby have a lot of similarities in their personality.”
Of course, adopting Shelby was not as simple as a Hollywood animal trainer walking into a shelter and walking out with a dog. The dedicated people at the facility had to ensure that Shelby would be in a good home. “We’re a small town in the middle of Tennessee in the middle of nowhere, and we’re getting a call from Hollywood?” says facility director T.J. Jordi. “Not normal on your daily radar. So, like any rescue, we did a lot of research on them to make sure that they were legitimate – we wanted to make sure she was going to be well taken care of. And everything come back glowing for this organization. Later, when Teresa Miller first came out, I’m standing there holding onto Shelby and saw her interacting very slowly, methodically, with Shelby, and as things progressed, I saw that even if things hadn’t worked out for Shelby to be in the movie, Teresa personally would have taken her home regardless.”
After taking Shelby to California, she spent considerable time living with Miller and began making a home with the other dogs. “She was just very open and friendly with the dogs – they loved her,” says Miller. “Shelby was jumping over my other dogs with these huge ninja kicks – they were wrestling and running around the yard. I think she was happy to have not only the companionship, but also the free range to play. She’s a lot of fun – she’s a great personality, she’s smart and so expressive. She’s just got that ‘it factor.’”
Once Shelby was acclimated to her new home, Miller began the process of training her to be a film performer. The process she uses, as Miller explains, is quite different from the standard obedience training for dogs.
“It’s not ‘Sit! Down! Stay!’” she says. “It’s not so precise. It always looks like my dogs are the most untrained dogs, because I allow them to behave naturally while I’m cueing them. I might say, “Can you come over here and sit?” And the dog might look at me a little bit and decide, “OK, I think I’ll sit.” That’s where you get the character from, that’s where you get the natural action. Little things, like talking in sentences, relaxes the dog, and she’s able to do it in a much more natural behavior.”
Shelby was gradually introduced to different elements to see how she responded to traffic, different people and situations. “Working with dogs in film,” Miller continues, “means not only exposing them to various situations and different atmospheres, but there are also all the distractions that we encounter on set with the equipment and the crew. At any given point, a microphone is being waved in front of their face and they’re supposed to watch the actor and not watch the microphone, or the camera is zooming in to them. That all comes with the training that we do to expose her to all that, so she’s not just even fazed.”
Training a canine film actress also required specialized training. To prepare both Shelby and Amber for the big avalanche scene in the film, Miller and her team began work on the sandy California beaches, burying a favorite treat in the sand. “It could be a piece of chicken, hot dog, a piece of lamb and rice, commercial dog food, or their toy. We found that the food works better than the toy, because they want to grab the toy and run like crazy celebrate and sometimes we need them back quicker. If we have time, then they can run around and celebrate.” It turns out that digging was one of those areas where the stand-in surpassed the lead dog. “Amber definitely has specialties, which is what you want in a team,” says Miller. “She loves to do fast things, like digging in the sand much more quickly. Shelby’s a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more casual and natural for what we do.”
The cast, too, were impressed by what the trainers had been able to achieve. “Some of the stunts had been quite elaborately and ambitiously imagined in the script, and Shelby’s real-life humans had figured out how to train her in ways that were so rewarding and fun for Shelby,” says Judd. “Because she was young and still had all of that puppy energy, she just wanted to play.”
The screenwriters, too, were thrilled to see the plot they’d imagined come to life. “We were able to watch the dogs during training, so it was great fun to see what they learned play out during the filming,” says Cameron. “Occasionally they’d forget their lines,” he jokes, “but for the most part, those dogs are amazing performers.”
Miller,
who adopted Shelby as her forever home, says that Shelby could well go on to
perform again, but that even more fulfilling opportunities await her. “Our company, Paws for Effect, work closely
with autistic children and children’s hospitals, providing therapy dogs,” she
says. “Shelby has the ideal personality
for it – she’s perfect! So we’re looking
forward to giving kids a break from the hospital.”
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
It was during the training period in Los Angeles that director Charles Martin Smith first met Shelby in person, after viewing photos and video footage. Having appeared in and directed a number of films involving animals, including helming the two hit Dolphin Tale movies, Smith admits to being enthralled with the genre. “I’m probably only director in the business that actually prefers working with kids and animals,” says Smith. “I’m fascinated by making movies about animals, nature, and wilderness, and A Dog’s Way Home combines them in a way that’s very exciting for me. When I was a young man acting in Never Cry Wolf , the director of that film, Carroll Ballard, taught me so much about working in nature and working with animals and understanding how to capture that on film. I try to carry that forward in the films that I make now.”
“The thing about animals as opposed to human actors is that animals will always be honest,” Smith continues. “You’ll never get a false moment out of an animal; there’s an innocence and purity about them as characters in film that I find endlessly interesting. Too often when people make films about animals, there’s an imposition of what we think they should be onto them. I’m more interested in capturing who they really are. “
When he first met Shelby, Smith was prepared to give the dog some distance if she appeared uncomfortable in any way. As it turns out, that was completely unnecessary. “I couldn’t believe it,” he recalls. “She just ran right over to me, as if she knew that I was the one that she was supposed to meet. She came right over and was licking me and it was really touching. I was so pleased. I knew that we were going to get along just great. She’s a terrific dog.”
Smith’s unique resume – first as an actor, and later as a director of films featuring animals – inspired confidence in his cast. “Charles Martin Smith, what a gem,” says Edward James Olmos. “A really, really kind and giving person makes everybody feel much more relaxed. He’ll never show a sense of insecurity or fear that he won’t get the shot – you feel confident and move forward with a sense of balance.”
“Charles is the best,” adds Jonah Hauer-King. “The great thing about Charles’ work is that he was an actor before he directed, so he’s really an actor’s director. He understands that people have their different processes. He’s very sympathetic to actors and understands what they need for a scene. It was one of the best experiences that I’ve had with a director.”
ABOUT THE CAST
Ashley Judd reteams with director Charles Martin Smith after starring in the two Dolphin Tale films. “As Terri, I play a veteran with PTSD who kind of hangs around the house, and mopes around the VA. She doesn’t always feel particularly good, but her life is significantly brightened when her son, Lucas, brings home a little puppy that he finds under an abandoned house in our neighborhood. That’s just the beginning of Bella’s adventure.”
Working with Shelby proved to be an immediate hit with Judd. “Shelby is a very wonderful four-legged, incredibly spirited, affectionate and bright. She is exceedingly clever,” says Judd. “She really responded well to becoming a movie star, which takes significant training. She’s a very good actor. She’s very focused, she concentrates, she does exceptionally well in her close ups. She’s really emotive. She has a beautiful, very sensitive face. And she’s just lovely. She’s absolutely lovely.”
As a veteran affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Judd’s character Terri finds that having Bella in her home, is able to give her considerable relief. It’s something that resonates strongly with Judd, given her own real-life experience in this area, as she explains. “As someone who has had service animals, I’m very familiar with the way that these animals are of extraordinary benefit to their humans. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder involves traumatic memories that aren’t stored properly in the brain. Whereas grief is an organic process that eventually self resolves, becoming less vivid and personal, trauma is intrusive, it’s repetitive, it comes up unbidden. When Terri has these episodes, Bella recognizes that, and she’s there to put her chin on Terri’s leg, to comfort her, and to help bring her back to the present moment, to get her back into her body, and out of being stuck in the past traumatic event that happened when she was in the US military.”
Judd says that Bella’s gift for comfort goes beyond Terri. “She can pick out the vets who are having a particularly tough moment, and she goes over and gives them what they need,” she says.
Jonah Hauer-King says that working with Shelby was a rewarding experience – especially given that it was his first time working with animals. “Shelby is kind of amazing,” he says. “She’s kind of the dream dog. She’s kind, loving, and warm. It was fascinating to learn how the trainers work with her – but more than anything else, it was a joy.”
Reflecting on taking the role of the young animal rights activist who befriends Lucas, Alexandra Shipp recalls what drew her to the character. “The main thing that attracted me to Olivia was how passionate she was and how strong she is,” she says. “She’s smart, she knows exactly what she’s talking about, and she wants to help. It’s exciting to play characters that do the random act of kindness, who are just trying to be helpful, who is just trying to be of service.”
Shipp continues, “I think that Olivia is attracted to Lucas’ kindness. I think that there’s so sweet and genuine about it; there is something super appealing about a gorgeous guy who just wants to rescue lost pets.”
Edward James Olmos plays Axel, a homeless vet, also suffering from PTSD, who Bella encounters on her journey home. Olmos says that his character also forms a special bond with Bella. “Bella not only helps him live and keep himself warm – he also gets the friendship of a dog. It’s just amazing, what animals do for people.”
Olmos himself is also very familiar with the ways that service dogs can improve the lives of the people around them. “I have a therapy dog, Mo, that works in hospitals – he’s been an integral part of my family for 11 years,” he says. “He’s done extraordinary work in different situations – all he has to do is walk into a room and stand next to somebody that needs him, and you see it right away. He has a tendency to go be with the people who need him most. Most recently that was a young man he had known for a long time and had seen over the years at the Motion Picture Home in Los Angeles. Mo sensed what we couldn’t, and was able to be with him when he passed. Quite emotional.”
Olmos points out that Post Traumatic Stress is hardly a recent development when it comes to veterans. “We’ve had PTSD since there were two tribes,” he says. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is something we are barely learning about but it’s wonderful that we’re trying to. It’s very much needed.”
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
A Dog’s Way Home started production in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the first several weeks dedicated primarily to working with the four-legged actors. This involved filming in some of the spectacular scenery found within a few hours of the city, in the mountainous towns of Merrit and Hope, B.C.
“When I start a film that has animals in it,” says Smith, “I always make sure that everybody is aware that the number one priority is the animal. If the animal doesn’t feel like working that day, or at a certain point is done, we stop and we shoot something else. I’ve always got something in my back pocket that doesn’t require the animal I can shoot instead. The priority is always the safety and the comfort of these animals.”
In addition to filming in some urban areas of mainland Vancouver, the company also spent many more days filming in other wilderness locations such as the Squamish Valley. Another spectacular location near the town of Squamish itself was at the top of the famed Sea to Sky gondola tourist attraction, with its breathtaking views over Howe Sound far below. Huge granite monoliths that attract some of the top climbers in the world surround the area.
“British Columbia is just a gorgeous place.” says director Charles Martin Smith, “I lived here on and off for many years, partly because of the natural beauty. The area we were filming in, outside of Squamish and just off the Sea to Sky Highway that goes up to Whistler, is just so beautiful that I knew I had to get it on film.”
It was in British Columbia that the production located Shelby and Amber’s co-stars for some of the film’s crucial scenes as Bella is being pursued by a pack of coyotes in the wilderness. While most of the other wild animals in the film are depicted by CGI, the production company was fortunate to find some local coyote dogs in British Columbia.
Trainer Bonnie Judd says that her dogs are “part border collie and part coyote, so they have the smarts of a border collie that loves people and the look of a coyote. You get a little bit of coyote personality and a little bit of dog personality.”
Just as not every dog on the film could be a rescue, not every animal on the film could be real. At one point in the film, Bella encounters a cougar. “There’s really no way to train a cougar,” says visual effects producer Chris B. Schnitzer. “So we made it computer-generated.”
“The creation of the cougar was the biggest challenge we faced,” says Visual Effects Supervisor Matthew Welford. “Big Kitty is effectively an animal actor that we created completely in the computers. During the filming process, we were learning more and more about Bella’s personality and how that interacts with the CG Big Kitty.”
The other major role for the visual effects group was to erase animal trainers’ legs from the shots, as sometimes they were quite close to the dogs to get the desired performance. A CG Bella also was created for certain scenes too dangerous for a real dog.
About Animal Safety On Set
On any production that involves animals, the safety and welfare of the animals is always the top concern, and the filmmakers of A Dog’s Way Home did everything in their power for the animals in their care.
“It was very clear that both Shelby and Amber had three very dedicated humans, who were there exclusively for their care, welfare and safety,” explains Ashley Judd . “And they were the bosses – we respected their leadership, we respected their authority and we respected their autonomy.”
Bella Team Lead Trainer Teresa A. Miller also emphasizes the importance of keeping the dogs comfortable and safe. “Our total concern is the safety of the animals on the set, and simulating any of the reactions or behaviors that appear to be a sad-looking or scared-looking dog. Our first priority is the dog, so we’re always going make sure that they’re safe and not put under any necessary duress.”
In addition to the trainers, the production also had two independent animal safety consultants. American Humane monitored the animal action, giving the film its No Animals Were Harmed® designation, and in addition, Jami LoVullo, an independent safety consultant, was on set at all times, also closely watching every take.
