Having appeared in and directed a number of films involving animals — including helming the two hit Dolphin Tale movies — Charles Martin Smith, director of Columbia Pictures’ heartwarming tale A Dog’s Way Home, admits to being enthralled with the genre.
“I’m probably the only director in the business that actually prefers working with kids and animals,” says Smith with a laugh. “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.”








