Filming for National Geographic’s Unlikely Animal Friends

From all of the media attention that their story has gotten, we are fortunate to have opportunities to film for various television shows and news outlets. 

With the nature of television shows, all information about filming has to be kept a secret until the episode airs on TV.

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It all started with a message on YouTube about the video we posted of Lilo and Rosie’s beginnings. A producer was interested in our story for their show. We spoke on the phone with the producer who told us that they wanted to pitch our story to the network, so we could be filmed for their show.

After an extensive conversation between the three of us, we decided that being part of this was an exciting new experience we could not pass up. After a few weeks of waiting to be approved, we got a call saying that National Geographic had given us the green light. Excited, we set a date with the production company.

 

We were nervous because we had never filmed for anything before, much less television.

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On the day of filming, we got up at 6:30 AM to take Lilo and Infinity for a run. Exercise would help them be calmer and less anxious throughout the day. Our call time was 8:00 AM and we were scheduled to film for 12 hours. One of the producers arrived early and brought us donuts! By 8:30 AM, we had 3 producers, a camera guy, and a sound guy in our house.

Since it was our first time filming, everything was new to us.

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Getting a microphone on was new and a bit strange. It’s a device that attaches to the inside of your pants with a wire that runs to the middle of your chest. The sound guy helped us with it and was very respectful in the process.

They mostly filmed Lilo and Rosie’s day. The two of them ate breakfast together, played together, and cuddled up to each other during nap time. We went to the park, where they filmed Lilo and Rosie climbing trees, walking, and playing with each other.

 

OTF (on the fly interviews) were conducted with each of us throughout the day. Did you know that you’re never allowed to stare directly into the camera while speaking? Haha, we didn’t know until they told us. “Just pretend the camera isn’t there” they said. The crew was super nice about shooting things again if anyone messed up. It was interesting to be asked to do things over so they could film them from different angles. The cameras unintentionally drew a crowd at the park and some random bystanders were interviewed on what they thought about the pair.

 

After getting back to the house from the park, we took a break for lunch.

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When lunch was done, the long interview started. It was a sit down interview, like you see on 60 minutes! Only one of us was interviewed for this part. There were lights, face powdering, and a long list of questions. They ask the questions, you repeat the question in your answer, so it sounds like you’re speaking candidly about the subject. Even documentaries are slightly scripted, it’s show biz!

At this point, it was nearing the end of the day, we were all pretty tired, but we had one more stop.

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They wanted to film Lilo and Rosie at the vet together, so we all headed there. The location was cleared beforehand, so they were expecting us. Of course, the combination of the Lilo and Rosie along with the cameras, large sound mics, and extra set of people with us drew a bit of a crowd.

 

They filmed Rosie getting a vaccine and Lilo comforting her after.

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Much to our vet’s dismay, she was interviewed about their relationship. After being recognized on TV, she has since declined filming with us ever again, LOL. Rest assured, we still have a great relationship with our vet and the entire care team.

 

The last scene filmed for the day was of Lilo and Rosie leaving the vet after Rosie received her vaccine.

 

We wrapped filming at 6:00 PM

 

Overall, our first time filming was great! Everything went as smoothly as we had hoped for. It was a lot more work than we had anticipated, because between scenes, we were running around getting ready for the next. The crew was patient and worked really well with the pack, which was nice.

If anyone is interested, the show is called Unlikely Animal Friends. We were on Season 3, Episode 6: Puppy Want a Parrot. The episode can be found playing on rerun on the Nat Geo WILD channel.

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Since our first time filming was a positive experience, to date, we have filmed for TV and news outlets all over the world. It’s been a pretty crazy ride!

With filming, we always make sure that our pack is treated with the utmost respect from everyone involved. Their safety, care, and best interests are taken into account with all decisions made when going into any production.

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