
“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.”