Making of

It is the result of a fortuitous union, - Mike, a professional film maker, Bettina, a professional dog trainer and the Scotties, especially Hitchcock, who perform extraordinary feats:

Mike and Bettina - the filmmakers

Mike graduated in film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California. Throughout his career he has worked in the US and Europe as a freelance director of documentaries and corporate films. In 1993 he founded the company Michael Magee Productions in Switzerland, specializing in films for international clients such as Swissair, IWC Watch Co., Swiss Tourism, Grand Hotels and others. Since 2011 he has mainly focused on his true passion, the production of documentaries.

His last two documentaries both won several awards: the portrait of landscape painter Christian Peltenburg Brechneff "Like notes of music", and the portrait of war journalist "Werner van Gent - life between war and music" .

Bettina studied Psychology, History and Philosophy at the University of Zurich. She is a specialist in human-dog relationships, did empirical and multi-disciplinary research on this topic, and finished with a Master Degree. She did four dog trainer education programs and founded the initiative for force-free dog training 2014. This non profit organization promotes science-based, ethical dog training and numbers over 800 professional members. She works together with Mike in the film company with administration, research, script writing, editing assistance, production management and assistance, archive and more. Besides this work she offers private dog training / behavioural therapy and teaches agility classes.

How Hitchcock was beating the odds

Scotties are not typical agility dogs as they are heavier built than other breeds in their competition height category. Our Scotties are the only representatives of their breed in the world to take part in international competitions. Thus Hitchcock was beating the odds by being the first Scottie to qualify for an international competition. His story shows how much you can achieve if you don't allow yourself to be limited by external judgements, but simply do the things you love. Hitchcock was a particularly sensitive dog and through kind and cooperative training he developed into an exceptional dog with his sensitivity becoming a strength rather than a weakness.

Even though he didn't win a trophy at the European Championships, this story shows just how enriching the shared journey between humans and dogs can be. His example, which we captured on film and shared worldwide, made waves. Many people felt inspired and motivated to keep their own dogs mentally occupied as well. If this is done in a reward-based way, it enriches and deepens the relationship with the dog in surprising ways.

The inspiration for starting the film

When Hitchcock tragically passed away in December 2019, we could hardly believe the outpouring of sympathy and grief from our social media community. We felt we owed it to Hitchcock, ourselves and our community to create something that not only honoured him, but also enriched all viewers who would see it. The film not only shows the ‘underdog’ story of Hitchcock's agility career, but also what life with dogs is like and how dogs can accompany their humans everywhere. It addresses the importance of recognising the moment and living consciously in the present. It poses the big questions about transience, the value of life and coming to terms with experiences of loss. This is how the idea for the film ‘All because of Hitch’ came about. Oh, and we wanted the wider audience to know just how much FUN we’ve all had along the way.

The process of making the film

The footage that had accumulated between 2007 and 2025 first had to be organised and sorted. Much of it had been filmed spontaneously in real life with smartphones, others had been elaborately shot with high-end film cameras - but what the footage had in common was that it had not been created specifically with a view to making a film. That's why it was a mammoth task to create an authentic, entertaining and well-communicated storyline in addition to sorting the footage. The work on the film took over 3 years and it is above all a joint effort by Bettina and Mike. Other people contributed valuable work (see below). In January 2024 the film was almost 4 hours long in edited form and after many ‘kill your darlings’ it has shrunk to the length of 1:40 hour.

Shooting Locations

We live in Switzerland and love to explore outdoors and go for hiking tours in the alps. Of course the dogs and the camera are with us. As our dogs are Scottish Terriers, we started to explore Scotland, as well as England and Wales, in recent years and enjoyed unforgettable holidays in the most beautiful landscapes. These adventures and stunning video footage are part of the film, of course. We filmed in the following countries: Swtzerland, Scotland, England, Wales, Czech Republic and Germany