12 Dogs Combines Kids, Snow, Christmas, and Fun
By Ken Kragen

When Mormon filmmaker and Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill happened upon two of his twenty-four grandchildren reading the book The 12 Dogs of Christmas, he could not have imagined that just three months later he’d be shooting a full-length, live-action, feature film based on the book.

 

Kieth took a digital picture of his grandkids with the book and e-mailed it to his friend, Ken Kragen It was Ken’s daughter Emma who had written The 12 Dogs of Christmas when she was just seven years old. The book has sold an unbelievable 490,000 copies.

Ken is the man responsible for creating “We Are the World,” and organizing “Hands Across America” to fight world hunger. He is a veteran of the entertainment business and a noted producer of films and television.

Ken and Kieth have worked on projects together, and Kieth has often heard Ken say, “It is easier to accomplish the impossible than the ordinary.” But Kieth was not prepared for Ken’s suggestion that they turn Emma’s little children’s picture book into a full-length feature film.

That was January. Ken wanted to shoot the film before the snow was gone. Kieth plunged into creative seclusion and emerged two weeks later with a completed shooting script. It was only possible because of the excellent treatment written by Steven Paul Leiva, another of Ken’s friends.

It was now early February.  There was very little time for pre-production, location scouting, casting, hiring a crew, getting union approvals or doing the myriad other tasks to launch a movie. But Kieth and Ken were determined to shoot the film with real snow in a Christmas-like setting. They found a marvelous location in the picturesque town of Bethel, Maine.

With the help of Kieth’s son, who had just graduated from USC film school’s graduate program, they rounded up a great crew. Ken’s long-time connection to Hollywood resulted in a terrific group of seasoned actors, some of them well known for numerous roles in film and television. Others were charming young actors with serious experience required for the leads. The town rallied around the project — even dismissing kids from school — and filled the film with a wonderful ensemble of charming kids who were just terrific.

Making the film wasn’t easy. In fact it was among the most difficult projects that Ken and Kieth had ever tackled in their diverse and successful careers. There is an axiom in filmmaking. “Avoid stories with kids, dogs and snow.” Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Curiously, the kids and dogs were the least of the problems. Rain fell instead of snow.  Cameras broke down. Cans of exposed films were opened my mistake and ruined. There were union problems, an actor’s strike and the inevitable financing challenges that usually beset most small independent films.

Kieth and Ken worked without compensation (their salaries were deferred), and Ken took out a second mortgage on his home to complete the project. But of course it was the most beloved family project of their lives! Funny how that works.

The end result is a wonderful movie worth all of the agony, ordeal, risk and sacrifice. Dick Rolfe, of the prestigious Dove Foundation, called The 12 Dogs of Christmas “a classic, family classic.” iParenting bestowed its coveted seal of approval. It is not a film in the genre of so-called “Mormon Cinema” by any means, but it embraces the values of the LDS community by stressing the importance of honesty, love, family and “faith in small miracles.” It is a beautifully shot, fast-paced story and with more than a hundred dogs and kids.

Writer Steve Leiva incorporated the inspiring qualities from two grand classics when he wrote the treatment. It’s A Wonderful Life and Annie were next to his computer as he wrote.

The story that evolved is set in the depression-ravaged 1930’s. 12-year-old Emma (Kieth named her after Ken’s author-daughter) and her father are evicted from their home. Emma is sent to live with Aunt Delores in the town of Doverville.

It turns out, however, that the “aunt” is actually an old girlfriend of Emma’s father, who thinks he’s a rat for leaving her to marry someone else. “Aunt” Delores wants nothing to do with his daughter. To make matters worse the town has past an ordinance banning dogs. Emma saves a puppy from the dogcatcher on her first day of school then scrambles to hide him from the frightful Schoolmarm and her “aunt” ― who just happens to be dating the dogcatcher!

Emma is determined to save the puppy and the dogs, and the adventure takes off. With courage beyond her years, Emma exposes the dogcatcher’s villainous scheme to catch all the dogs and sell them to the wicked dogfight promoter!  Emma is determined to touch the heart of the town and change the mind of the mayor. 

The movie’s finale is a wonderful program on Christmas Eve, with 70 kids and 64 dogs performing The 12 Dogs of Christmas. Marvelous.

The 12 Dogs Of Christmasis a perfect movie for your family to watch together. One of your kids or grandkids will ask to see over and over. Go to www.12dogsofchristmas.com to see the trailer and much, much more. One more thing. This year with every DVD comes an entry form to win a trip for four to the famous Westminster Dog Show in New York (February 10-13). It’s a VIP trip for the whole family to enjoy. You can also enter online.