Thor Freudenthal is a filmmaker with nerve. For his first big-budget studio feature, the young commercial and short-film director took on one of the most daunting challenges imaginable: 100 panting, drooling dogs looking toward him (or his surrogate, their trainers) for guidance.

Based on the book by best-selling kids’ author Lois Duncan, Hotel for Dogs is a canine-centric romp about 16-year-old Andi (Emma Roberts) and her younger brother Bruce (Jake T. Ryan) – two headstrong orphans failed by the foster care system who decide to build their own version of the white picket dream home out of an abandoned hotel and all the stray dogs they can wrangle.

B OXOFFICE caught up with Freudenthal to find out the secret to making a popular kids film, why dogs make the best movie stars, and what drew a self-confessed cat person to fall in love with a Boston Terrier.

CLICK HERE to listen to our interview with Thor Freudenthal.