They definitely still have a lot of the wolf characteristics, which people tend to think are aggression and confidence. LRM: Was this type of breed a easier or harder to train than most types of breeds out there? They get out and about quite a bit more than maybe some of the hybrids that you would find over here in North America where they just kind of live in somebody’s backyard. The breed is a recognized breed in Europe. We worked with them for about five months before we started filming. We got about six months before filming started. We had four other wolf dogs that sort of made up Chuck’s pack in the movie. Mark Forbes: We had Chuck and his backup, which was the dog named Zabbie. LRM: How many dogs did you have to train? How long did it take for this film production?
That’s how we kind of ended up with that type of dog. It had a much better temperament that I found. The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is just more wolf-like. We looked at different hybrids in North America where most of them are our Husky or Mountie mixes. That’s sort of how we came across with that. It’s a great mix as far as the hybrids go. The breed is now a recognized breed in Europe. I don’t think it worked out necessarily for the military, but it caught on a little bit in Europe. They bred about fifty German Shepherds to five carpathian wolves. The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is a breed that the Czech army in the 1950s wanted to make a military dog. Did you basically brought the dog to the project as pretty young? Or was he an adult dog that you had to retrain for the purpose of this movie? LRM: Tell me more about Chuck, the wolf dog here. That’s kind of how the whole project kind of got started. We actually ended up with Chuck, who is a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, which is a cross between a wolf and a German shepherd. We went through many, many months of research, scouting and looking around at different types of wolves and hybrids. We talked extensively about the casting of Alpha on whether it would be a real wolf or a hybrid of some sort. That was about a year and a half before we even started filming. As soon as I realized that this whole thing was about the origin of the human canine relationship, it totally had me hooked.
It wasn’t until the last page of the script that I really understood what the movie was about. But, it sounded interesting and nothing earth shattering at first. Mark Forbes: I got an original call from Albert, our illustrious director.
Could you tell me on what brought you on board to this project? What initially attracted you to here? LRM: Thanks for speaking with me about Alpha. Some of his previous production work included A Dog’s Purpose, Marley & Me and We Bought A Zoo.Īlpha is currently available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download. He was the trainer for Chuck, the dog used in the production for Alpha. LRM Online had an exclusive phone interview with Mark Forbes, one of Hollywood’s most used animal trainers. The screenplay is written by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt. The story is directed by Albert Hughes ( The Book of Eli, From Hell). He befriends a wolf companion, who assists him on his trek home.
The story follows a prehistoric journey of a young man who was separated from his hunting party after an expedition for wild buffalo. Or rather it’s the first time that man develops a relationship with a dog.Īlpha is one of the surprising adventure films this year that stars Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chuck, the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog. It’s a remarkable feel good story about a boy and his dog.