Everybody Loves Whales The Movie in Billings, MT

• Info
• Cast & Crew

• Genre: Adventure,Drama
  
  Synopsis:
  A reporter (John Krasinski) in small-town Alaska and his former lover (Drew Barrymore), an environmentalist, try to form an international coalition to rescue three ice-trapped whales.
  
  Release Date: 02/03/2012
  Running Time: 107
  
  Rating: PG - Parental Guidance Suggested
  
  http://www.everybodyloveswhales.com/
  
• Cast:
  Adam Carlson: John Krasinski,Rachel Kramer: Drew Barrymore,Jill Jerard: Kristen Bell,Kelly Meyers: Vinessa Shaw,Col. Scott Boyer: Dermot Mulroney,Pat Lafayette: Tim Nelson Blake,J.W. McGraw: Ted Danson,Gov. Haskell: Stephen Root,Nathan: Ahmaogak Sweeney,Wes Handrick: John Higgins Michael,Karl Hootkin: James LeGros,Dean Glowacki: Rob Riggle,Chief of Staff: Bruce Altman,Porter Beckford: Michael Gaston,Dimitri: Mark Ivanir,Yuri: Stefan Kapicic,Conrad: Shea Whigham,Malik: John Pingayak,Roy: John Chase
  
  Crew:
  Director: Ken Kwapis,Screenwriter: Jack Amiel,Screenwriter: Michael Begler,Producer: Steve Golin,Producer: Michael Sugar,Producer: Tim Bevan,Producer: Eric Fellner,Executive Producer: Liza Chasin,Executive Producer: Debra Hayward,Executive Producer: Stuart Besser,Executive Producer: Paul Green,Original Music: Cliff Eidelman,Costume Designer: Shay Cunliffe,Cinematographer: John Bailey,Film Editor: Cara Silverman,Production Design: Nelson Coates,Casting: Mary Gail Artz,Casting: Shani Ginsberg
  
  Production Companies:
  Anonymous Content,Working Title Films
  
  Distributors:
  Universal Pictures
  
  Notes:
  Production Notes - Notes provided by Universal Pictures - Production Information ``Good evening. Time and hope are running out for three California gray whales who have been trapped for several days in the thickening ice off the Alaskan coast. -Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News, October 1988 Inspired by the incredible true story that touched the world, the rescue adventure Big Miracle tells the amazing tale of an animal-loving volunteer (Golden Globe winner DREW BARRYMORE of 50 First Dates, He's Just Not That Into You) and a small-town news reporter (JOHN KRASINSKI of The Office, It's Complicated) who are joined by a native Alaskan boy (newcomer AHMAOGAK SWEENEY) to rally an entire community-and eventually rival world superpowers-to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Barrow newsman Adam Carlson (Krasinski) cant wait to escape the northern tip of Alaska for a bigger market. But just when the story of his career breaks, the world comes chasing it too. With an oil tycoon, heads of state and hungry journalists descending upon the frigid outpost to get their moment in the midnight sun, the one person who occupies Adam the most is Rachel Kramer (Barrymore). Not only is she an outspoken environmentalist, she also happens to be his ex-girlfriend. With time running out, Rachel, Adam and Nathan (Sweeney), an 11-year-old native Alaskan boy who learns to connect with his people and his culture, must rally an unlikely coalition of locals, oil companies and Russian and American military to set aside their differences and unite for a purpose they all believe in: freeing the whales in record time. As the Alaskans frantically try to dig miles of holes on one side of the ice and a Soviet icebreaker pushes inland on the other, they must perform the virtually impossible to bridge a four-mile gap. And if they miraculously succeed, the trapped whales will be freed to the safety of open sea to begin their 5,000-mile annual migration. As the worlds attention turns to the top of the globe for two weeks, saving these endangered animals becomes a shared cause for nations entrenched against one another and leads to an unexpected, momentary thaw in the Cold War. Barrymore and Krasinski are joined by a top-notch cast of co-stars including KRISTEN BELL (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Couples Retreat), DERMOT MULRONEY (J. Edgar, Zodiac), TIM BLAKE NELSON (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Incredible Hulk), VINESSA SHAW (3:10 to Yuma, Two Lovers) and TED DANSON (Saving Private Ryan, televisions Damages). The principal cast is supported by STEPHEN ROOT (Office Space), JOHN MICHAEL HIGGINS (For Your Consideration), JAMES LE GROS (televisions Mildred Pierce), ROB RIGGLE (The Other Guys), BRUCE ALTMAN (It's Complicated), MICHAEL GASTON (Inception), MARK IVANIR (Schindler's List), STEFAN KAPICIC (televisions 24) and SHEA WHIGHAM (televisions Boardwalk Empire), as well as Alaska-native newcomers JOHN PINGAYAK and JOHN CHASE. Directed by KEN KWAPIS (He's Just Not That Into You, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) from a screenplay by JACK AMIEL & MICHAEL BEGLER (Raising Helen, The Prince and Me), Big Miracle is based on the book ``Freeing the Whales by journalist THOMAS ROSE. Anonymous Contents STEVE GOLIN (Babel, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and MICHAEL SUGAR (Rendition, TVs A Separate Peace) are joined by Working Title partners TIM BEVAN and ERIC FELLNER (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frost/Nixon) as producers. Kwapis longtime and new collaborators include director of photography JOHN BAILEY (He's Just Not That Into You, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), production designer NELSON COATES (The Proposal, The Last Song), editor CARA SILVERMAN (He's Just Not That Into You, A Cinderella Story), costume designer SHAY CUNLIFFE (2012, The Bourne Ultimatum) and composer CLIFF EIDELMAN (He's Just Not That Into You, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Working Titles LIZA CHASIN (Pride & Prejudice) joins DEBRA HAYWARD (Nanny McPhee), as well as STUART BESSER (The Losers) and Anonymous Contents PAUL GREEN (44 Inch Chest) as executive producers on the film, which was shot entirely within the state of Alaska. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Meet Fred, Wilma and Bamm-Bamm: Journey to the Big Screen In 1988, the lack of smart phones, online social networks and instant wireless meant that news didnt move as fast as it does today. But as cable television and satellite transmissions found wider audiences, the world was realizing that information no longer resided wholly in morning papers or on the nightly newscasts of the three major networks. Into this new era came stories we could watch around the clock. And for three California gray whales that became trapped off the coast of Barrow, Alaska, during their annual migration in October of that year, this was helpful news indeed. One onlooker of the unfolding rescue was journalist Thomas Rose, whose book ``Freeing the Whales was published in 1989. Roses story, originally released as an article in the now defunct Spy magazine and later lengthened into book form, chronicled the events surrounding the tremendous rescue effort on behalf of the three ice-locked gray whales off the shores of Barrow. When a local news photographer sent video coverage of the animals breaching in a small breathing hole hewn from thick ice, footage found its way from the bureau desk in Anchorage all the way to NBC anchor Tom Brokaws national evening newscast. Soon, the plight of the whales captured international interest and resulted in a media frenzy that overtook the small city. The residents of the northernmost-and perhaps coldest-town in America were inundated with press. For a sleepy whaling town coming to grips with a changing way of life, this would be one of the biggest mixed blessings to present itself all century. But it wasnt just the Fourth Estate that had a vested interest in this human-interest tale. The story caught the attention of the Reagan White House, then focused upon the upcoming November election campaign of Vice President George H.W. Bush. Looking to position Bush as a pro-environment candidate and engage the federal government in the humanitarian effort, the Reagan team enlisted the aid of staffer Bonnie Mersinger, the executive assistant for cabinet affairs, in its efforts. ``President Reagan stopped by my office in the West Wing that night, recalls Bonnie Mersinger Carroll, technical advisor for Big Miracle. ``He had seen that the National Guard was involved, and he wondered what the White House could do to help. Since I was also a Guardsman, he asked that I extend his offer of help to the Alaska National Guard. And thats how I met Tom Carroll. Col. Tom Carroll was serving as commander of one of the major battalions of the Alaska National Guard when he received a barrage of phone calls from Mersinger. Although initially put in charge of moving a behemoth hoverbarge across the ice, Carroll soon found his mission to be impossible and suggested the use of a Soviet icebreaker for the rescue of the pod of whales. ``This was before the Berlin Wall came down, says Mersinger Carroll, ``so this contact between America and the Soviet Union would prove extraordinary. It was a step toward world peace at the time. Little did Mersinger and Carroll know that their many phone calls would spark a romance between the two, who later married. According to Mersinger Carroll: ``Tom saw an opportunity to bring together the military, Alaska natives, oil companies, Greenpeace and even the Soviets. He was quite at the center of what became a miraculous operation in cooperation. Sadly, several years later, then Brigadier General Carroll was killed-along with seven other soldiers-in an Army National Guard plane crash in the wilds of his beloved Alaska. From this experience, Mersinger Carroll went on to form the national organization Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a front line partner with the Defense Department offering comfort and care to the families of Americas fallen military heroes. It wasnt until 1992 that Roses story of sensationalism, camaraderie and humanity caught the attention of fledgling television writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. Though curious about the story in 88, their attentions were then elsewhere. ``My sister, Andrea, was working for Dan Rather at CBS News, recalls Amiel. ``She thought the story would spark our interest as the basis for a film, although Michael and I were focused on writing for television at the time. The screenwriters kept Roses story on the back burner and revisited it in 2001, when they were establishing themselves as feature-film writers. They purchased the rights to his book and renewed them for nearly a decade as they wrote drafts of the script. ``Our source material was Roses book and the news footage of the time, adds Begler. ``But a lot of what we wrote was very real. We had to embellish and create new characters to form the story, but we wanted to stay consistent with what really happened for two long weeks out on the ice in 1988. The fact that two of the whales were eventually freed and returned to the open ocean made the story an overwhelming media favorite. Topping it off was the fact that-in an unprecedented thaw in the Cold War above the Arctic Circle-two superpowers put aside their differences and worked together for the good of the mission. ``The American icebreakers had all been waylaid or placed in dry dock by October, explains Begler, ``so the Soviet ship was the only one available. The use of the Soviet ship was a big gesture from the Reagan administration and the Gorbachev government. Cooperation also made them both look good to a watching and waiting world. Director Ken Kwapis, who guided films such as He's Just Not That Into You and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants into big hits, came aboard the project and helped to shape its story line. ``We very much had a satirical media focus in the first drafts, remembers Amiel. ``Ken brought a vision with him that added a kindness and humanity to the story. We opened it up and brought in other characters and points of view. The actual events of 1988 were not burnished in Kwapis mind, but he viewed the story as an opportunity to show the rescue from multiple perspectives. ``I was very surprised to find out what a fuss these three whales caused, he says. ``Our story covers the media circus that descended upon the trapped whales, but its main focus is the unlikely coalition of rescuers that put aside their various agendas in order to accomplish an impossible task. The writers took the screenplay to the principals of their management company Anonymous Content, Steve Golin and Michael Sugar, who also helped to shape it. Eventually, both came onto the project as producers, alongside Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, co-chairmen of the features production company, Working Title Films. ``Michael brought the script to my attention, recalls Golin. ``I felt like this could be a movie about people working for common goals, even if they did not agree philosophically. Ken understood that tone of the film. He brought a sense of humor and an everyman touch, while also seeing it as a moving, emotional and inspirational story. Although Roses book dates back to the late 80s, Sugar believed that Amiel and Beglers script could have been drawn from todays headlines. ``We thought that given what was happening in the world at the time, this story would resonate well in the present, says Sugar. ``Even though it is several years old, it is relevant as a story of modern humanity and shows the spirit of change. In 1988, information was not as free-flowing; except for CNN, we didnt have 24-hour newscasts like we do today. This story was like a rumor spread around the world and helped by the emerging use of satellite transmission. New and Familiar Faces: Casting the Rescue Adventure Professional Performers Like Bonnie Mersinger and Tom Carroll, many other players from the actual events were mirrored in the screenplay. Casting directors MARY GAIL ARTZ and SHANI GINSBERG began the search to put together just the right group of performers. True to form, Anchorage-based Greenpeace director Cindy Lowry served as the basis for the scripts activist, Rachel Kramer. Drew Barrymore was one of the first actors sent a script by Kwapis, with whom she had just worked on the comedy He's Just Not That Into You. Although deep into editing her directorial debut, Whip It, she instantly read the work. Barrymore was the first choice of the filmmakers for the role of this determined animal activist, whose commitment to protecting the environment came at the detriment to her personal life. What piqued Barrymores interest was the storys blending of so many people united for a common cause in a very inhospitable environment. Recalls the actress: ``I was in Palm Springs in the middle of editing my movie. I was exhausted, but I read this script and then spent the rest of the weekend calling everyone to tell them how passionate I felt about it. I was trying to reach people to beg to be a part of this movie. This was so special. She admits the source material sparked something in her: ``Everybody put their agenda aside for one moment in 1988. They did something lovely, something kind, by putting history or opinions away for just a minute in a very quiet, but public way. Working again with Kwapis was another draw for the actress. ``He is one of the best directors Ive worked with, Barrymore compliments. ``Not only is Ken a brilliant storyteller, but he gives you ideas that are so far beyond your own instincts. He is so good with combining the many layers of the film so that everything makes sense and has a purpose and a payoff. He is incredibly responsible, yet incredibly free, and actors trust him to get it right. The director was impressed with the films lead. ``Drew has the best work ethic of any actress or actor Ive ever worked with, lauds Kwapis. ``She is tireless when it comes to research, and cocoons herself in the world of the film for the duration of the shoot. The role of Rachel allows Drew to be a troublemaker, a bull-in-the-china-shop. Rachels point of view is valid, but sometimes she is her own worst enemy. Her take-no-prisoners approach often wreaks havoc on her romantic life, giving Drew the chance to explore the never-ending challenge of balancing love and work. Needless to say, this problem could not be more relatable. Lowry, who went on to spearhead the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill shortly after the 88 whale rescue, is just as driven as her on-screen counterpart. When Barrymore signed onto the role, she quickly went into research mode. She asked to be put in touch with Lowry, who was then advocating for a wind-farm proposal off the coast of Maine. The two women met and quickly bonded, spending many hours over the summer before shooting began to discuss Lowrys experiences during the rescue, as well as her long-held dedication to the environment. ``Cindy Lowry is a true activist, commends Barrymore, who is herself involved in many charities and causes. ``Shes funny, shes real and shes tough. I thought I should get to know Cindy well, and by the end of the summer I knew everything about her life. Next to come onto the production was actor John Krasinski, best known to American audiences as Jim Halpert on the hit television show The Office. Amiel and Begler didnt base the role of Barrow television reporter Adam Carlson on any one person who lived in the city at that time, but as an amalgam of small-town news people who served to tell the human elements of the story. Even though signing on would mean multiple trips between the set of his television series and Anchorage, Krasinski believed it was worth it to work again with Kwapis. The filmmaker had directed him in License to Wed, as well as many pivotal episodes of The Office. ``Ken is a phenomenal person, commends Krasinski. ``He did the pilot of our show and many of the important episodes, including the first time I said I love you to Pam. Hes been there emotionally in a lot of stages of my life as an actor, as well as a person growing up in front of the camera. He has that rare gift to be not only in tune with you but also with the whole movie. The producers were pleased to bring him onto the production as a character who would discover the story and be at the center of the storys romantic triangle. Notes Golin: ``John has incredible chemistry with Drew as well as Kristen, not to mention an amazing rapport with Ken. He did a lot of flying back and forth for us, but it all worked out smoothly. When Barrymore heard that Krasinski was a candidate to play Adam, she advocated bringing him onto Big Miracle. ``I remember calling Ken from the San Francisco airport, she says. ``I was screaming down the hallway that Id do anything to do this movie with him. He was perfect for the role, as he is wholesome, funny and a good guy, just like Adam. Even though the film is rooted in the environmental and political aspects of the whale rescue, there is also a love triangle that had to work among me, John and the actress who would play Jill. The character of Los Angeles-based TV reporter Jill Jerard was also fictional, based on several newspeople who traipsed up to Barrow in 1988 only to find themselves underdressed, underfed and nearly without room and board. After a brief search, film and television actress Kristen Bell was chosen to play the ambitious young journalist who would stop at nothing to get her big break in network news. ``Kristen gets to play a real fish-out-of-water, a Los Angeles-based reporter quite unprepared for the rigors of the Arctic, says Kwapis. ``Shes not alone. Most of the reporters sent to cover the trapped whales had never experienced such forbidding temperatures, which often dropped to 40 or 50 below. Add to that a small town with few amenities (one hotel!), and you can imagine what a happy bunch those reporters made. Bell knew what would motivate Jill to hunt down stories about the animals that more seasoned reporters would be too lazy or too disinterested to find. ``I think Jill always dreamed of being a reporter and was blessed with unending determination to thrive in a world ruled by men, the actress offers. ``She sees the potential for this story to be fantastic for her career and pitches it to her bosses at a time when no one else at the station will touch it. But once she arrives in Barrow, she gets hit with the hard truth that it is freezing cold and she has no winter clothing to fight the elements. Ambition is something she has in common with Adam, and they start a flirtation. As Krasinski and Bell are friends off camera, her casting gave him a further boost of on-set camaraderie. ``It was a big high note on this movie that Kristen and I got to work together, says the performer. ``I am lucky enough to call her a friend, but she also has this perfect energy on set where she is incredibly fun, kind and dedicated. Once the members of the romantic triangle were in place, other major roles soon were cast. Vinessa Shaw won the role of White House executive assistant Kelly Meyers, Boyers future wife. Dermot Mulroney joined the production to play Alaska National Guard commander Col. Scott Boyer, while character actor Tim Blake Nelson was chosen to play state wildlife official Pat Lafayette. Completing the principal cast was veteran television and film star Ted Danson, selected to play oil tycoon J.W. McGraw. Mulroneys and Shaws characters were closely drawn approximations of Tom Carroll and Bonnie Mersinger, the National Guard commander and presidential executive assistant who were thrown together via phone during those two harrowing weeks in 1988. Bonnie Mersinger Carroll had remained in Anchorage and was brought on to the film as a technical advisor. ``I had no idea Bonnie was living in Alaska, recalls Shaw. ``The producers asked me if I wanted to meet her and discuss the character. She and I spent countless hours together poring over all the details of the time in which she and Tom got together. Her romance had such a Hollywood ending, as they were married in Washington, D.C., after meeting on the phone...much as how we portray it in the film. We became so close that I wore Bonnies hat and coat in the final scenes of the movie out on the ice. For Mulroney, one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing a National Guardsman was the time he was able to spend in helicopters and with military personnel while filming his scenes. Much of his shoot was filmed on working military bases in and around Anchorage, and Kwapis team utilized dozens of enlisted as extras and pilots. ``My job in the film is to hook two crane helicopters to this bizarre machine called a hoverbarge, explains Mulroney. ``We were supposed to help make a trail of holes for the whales to breathe through, but this thing was too heavy to lift over miles of ice and snow. Part of Boyers task is to determine that this hoverbarge will never work and that our efforts would be better served elsewhere. Of course, it turns out that through this ordeal he meets the love of his life. While Mulroneys and Shaws characters mirrored individuals from the rescue, Nelsons and Dansons roles were loosely drawn from several people who took part in the operation. Nelsons character was actually based on three people who worked as state wildlife-management personnel in Barrow in 88. ``Ken and the writers combined them into one guy, explains the actor. ``It is usually a three-man department up in Barrow, so in the movie we have this one person covering all the bases. Hes squarely between Drews character and the Alaska-native whalers, whose interests he monitors as part of his job in wildlife management. However, as a biologist, he is concerned with the areas ecosystem and somewhat sympathetic to Greenpeaces point of view. It was particularly challenging for Danson to play a staunch antienvironment businessman when the actor is an advocate for clean oceans and safe water practices worldwide. ``I am a firm believer in no offshore drilling, says Danson, who founded the American Oceans Campaign in 1987, an organization that worked with the residents of Los Angeles to stop dumping used motor oil into storm drains leading to the Pacific Ocean. The American Oceans Campaign recently folded into the international water-advocacy group Oceana, upon which Danson sits as a board member. Years earlier, the actor had visited northern Alaska on a trip to Prudhoe Bay to discuss common ground between anti- and pro-oil drilling entities. ``They hoped to persuade us that we were wrong about protecting the wildlife refuge from drilling, recalls Danson. ``We continued to not agree. But what came out of that was that we figured out a way to work together, just like in this film. I found it liberating to play somebody on the other side of an issue Id been working on my entire life. Its fun to play John Wayne. Supporting players in Big Miracle include James Le Gros as Karl Hootkin and Rob Riggle as Dean Glowacki. Both characters were loosely based upon real-life counterparts Greg Ferrian and his brother-in-law, Rick, a pair of Minnesota inventors who volunteered the use of their fledgling de-icing machine. Additionally, Stephen Root portrays fictional Alaska Governor Haskell, and John Michael Higgins plays self-absorbed L.A. television reporter Wes Handrick. Bruce Altman was cast as Reagans chief of staff, while Michael Gaston plays Porter Beckford, a reporter out of his element on the ice. The Soviet icebreaking team of Dimitri and Yuri were played by Mark Ivanir and Stefan Kapicic, respectively, while Shea Whigham portrays SAR pilot Conrad. Alaska Natives and Supporting Cast Once the professional cast was in place, the task of finding Alaska-native actors to play the films essential Iñupiat tribal roles lay ahead for Kwapis and local casting directors DEBORAH SCHILDT and GRACE OLRUN. They scheduled auditions that took them on a journey to all corners of the vast state, from the southern forests of Juneau to the Arctic Circle and beyond. Several major Alaska-native roles, including whaling captain Roy, Barrow elder Malik and his 11-year-old grandson, Nathan, needed to be cast, as well as dozens of smaller speaking parts and extras. ``One of the chief reasons I fought to shoot Big Miracle in Alaska was to cast indigenous people in the roles of the Iñupiat residents of Barrow. We cast real whalers to play the whale hunters, and we cast many people who were in Barrow at the time of the event. It was very important for me to present the Iñupiat characters and their culture as honestly as possible, without patronizing or romanticizing them. Most of the actors would be portraying Barrow-based Iñupiat tribesmen; as well, neighbors such as the Cupik, Aleut and Yupik peoples would play Iñupiats. ``We started our casting journey in Barrow, says Schildt. ``They were having the Whaling Festival, which helped boost interest. We then went south to Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka, Homer and Fairbanks, where the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics were being held. Later, we went back north to Bethel, Kotzebue and Nome. We virtually covered the entire state. Indeed it was a challenge, as people from many different tribes all needed to portray members of the films Iñupiat tribe. Naturally, each tribe has its own language. ``The gentlemen we cast who were not from the Iñupiat region still wanted to do the Iñupiats proud, explains Olrun. ``They didnt want to bring their culture to their characters. But they were so excited to see that Alaskans would finally be portrayed by Alaskans, so they gladly studied the words and songs of the Iñupiats. Key to Kwapis was finding a trio of unknown actors to portray the key roles of Malik, Nathan and Roy. Luckily, the casting sessions yielded, respectively, Alaska natives John Pingayak, Ahmaogak Sweeney and John Chase to tackle these parts. Although all three had never appeared in a film, they were game for preparation. ``Most of the Alaska natives we cast were non-actors, says Kwapis. ``But all of them were naturally gifted. What was wonderful in some cases was that we actually got real whalers to play whaling captains and elders to play elders. The search for Malik and Nathan took several months, during which hundreds of new performers were considered for both roles. ``We narrowed it down to about 60 actors for each role, explains Schildt. ``And then we found a wonderful actor for Malik in John Pingayak from western Alaska. Pingayak had never before worked in a film; his performance experience had largely been on stage as a native dancer and lecturer. Currently a teacher of culture in his home village near Bethel, he saw the role as an opportunity to teach the world about his people and their ways. ``We are still here, we are still alive and thriving, says Pingayak. ``We have lived on our land for 10,000 years, with the same traditions and struggles. We want to keep it alive in a modern world, and for the world to see us as we still are. This film was a way to unite us all. John Chase was brought on as headstrong whaler Roy, who goes toe-to-toe with Rachel concerning his peoples long-held practice of hunting Arctic whales. A resident of Kotzebue, a small town far above the Arctic Circle, Chase had very little acting experience. He has actually spent years as a hunter on his peoples land. ``The ocean is our garden, explains Chase. ``The tundra is our supermarket. Were not on a road system, so store-bought foods have to be flown in from the lower 48. This makes grocery shopping very, very expensive. We have to hunt to feed our families. We maintain a harmonious relationship with the environment that has sustained our people for thousands of years. One of the new characters introduced to the story was an Alaska-native boy named Nathan. Much to the chagrin of his stern Iñupiat grandfather, who wishes to instruct the boy in the ways of their people, the 11-year-old bonds with Adam and grows obsessed with Western culture. ``We thought Nathan would help humanize Adam while making our story more accessible to a younger audience, explains Golin. ``Nathan brings a good-hearted tone to the script. Finding a boy to play Nathan was challenging for the casting directors. Having gone through dozens of finalists, a last-minute candidate, Ahmaogak Sweeney, came in to audition. ``I had been on vacation with my family in Spain during the summer, explains Sweeney, who is full-blooded Alaska native on his mothers side. ``After that, I went to camp in Colorado for a month. I was just lucky that they still had the part open when I came back. My mom got an e-mail asking us to audition, and I was pretty nervous for a few days. Then, my dad came to my school one day and told me I got the part! Casting Sweeney was the final piece of the puzzle for filmmakers. ``When we saw Ahmaogaks performance on tape, the way he sang and joked around, we knew we had the right guy for the role, says Sugar. ``He understands acting as well as the story, which informed his performance. But hes a real Alaskan kid who, in the end, was more excited about going on his first caribou hunt than being in our movie. Because so many of the real people involved in the 1988 story were present, the filmmakers were able to make use of their memories to fine-tune the script. One extra playing a reporter, JULIE HASQUET, was the first person to file a stand-up news story from the Barrow ice field in 1988. De-icer inventor Greg Ferrian visited the set, as did Bill Hess, one of the first photographers to send pictures of the whales around the world. Even the author of the screenplays source material, Tom Rose, stopped by to view the Barrow re-creation. Mulroney met Alaska National Guard members who knew his real-life counterpart, while current North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta, who was present at the 1988 rescue, toured the ice-field set. Barnacles and All: Imagining the Whales Perhaps the biggest challenge for Big Miracle was tackled thousands of miles away in New Zealand during preproduction. Inside the Auckland workshops of Glasshammer Visual Effects, three important co-stars were being designed and built. Glasshammer was asked to meticulously create a trio of very valuable California gray whale puppets the screenwriters had christened Fred, Wilma and Bamm-Bamm. New Zealand-based special-effects wizards JUSTIN BUCKINGHAM and MIKE LATHAM were assigned to create the films central illusion: to ensure that the California gray whales came alive on screen. Buckinghams company, Glasshammer, had created the lifelike whales for the 2002 blockbuster Whale Rider, work that caught the eye of the filmmakers. ``My company constructed the gray whales, says Buckingham, ``and Mike designed the animatronics, robotics and hydraulics. I had received a phone call about our availability to make these three whales, and I was quite excited from the beginning. Foremost in Kwapis mind was the whale makers ability to create lifelike animals. ``We needed the whales to look perfectly real, says the director, ``and I wanted to give the actors something tangible to interact with. We studied archival footage of the trapped whales to understand how they moved. We didnt want to anthropomorphize the