Class Questions about SHiloh

Comment:

Our fourth grade class, in southwest Ohio, finished reading Shiloh prior to Christmas break. We would like you to know that we love your book and we are very excited to continue reading the second book in the series. Thank you for writing such an amazing story! We all loved Shiloh so much that we celebrated our completion of the book by watching the movie. This sparked a lot of questions from our class. We would like to know your opinion of the movie. Do you think they did a good job selecting the cast? Are you a fan of the changes they made to the plot and ending? Were you a part of the production? Did you get to give the producers feedback? Thank you for your time!

Phyllis replied:

I liked the movie, even though there were a few things I would change.  I really liked the casting–especially Marty, his mom, and Judd.  I was disappointed that David Howard wasn’t in it, and didn’t see why we needed a girl named Sam, although she played her part well.  I thought her kissing him was pretty corny. I was able to make changes to the screenplay before the movie was produced; the screenwriter had ended the movie in a courtroom with a judge deciding who got the dog, and I insisted that this be changed.  The ending was more dramatic than in my book, but I liked it. Also liked the scene where Shiloh gets into the house at night; that wasn’t in the book.  Your class should know that two different beagles played the part of Shiloh.  When one got tired, the other took its place.  Scott Wilson, who played Judd, was not allowed to go near the dogs and pet them between scenes, as all the other actors were allowed to do. The director didn’t want Shiloh making friends with the actor and wagging his tail when he was supposed to be afraid.  I was present during some of the filming of the second book, Shiloh season.