BETHEL – It was luck that led to Bethel being recognized by state film officials as a place where movies could be made, said Greg Gadberry.

Gadberry, assistant director of the Maine Film Office, attended Saturday night’s world premiere showing of “The 12 Dogs of Christmas.”

The first time he started working on a film in the Bethel area was during the first week in 1996, for the movie, “The Myth of Fingerprints,” with Noah Wylie and Roy Scheider, he said.

“I stumbled on this area, and it has all of the things that the 12 Dogs’ people were looking for. It was great looking, the people are terrific, it’s rural and close enough to urban areas and airports. The Bethel region’s never let us down,” Gadberry said.

He said that the Maine Film Office first got the call from “12 Dogs” people in early January 2003 that they wanted to film the movie that winter.

“Normally, for a feature film the pre-production period is measured in years. This film had three to four weeks!” Gadberry said.

Gadberry said the filmmakers were interested in Houlton for its historic downtown.

“I told them to look at Bethel first, and they did, by the end of February. And then, we wouldn’t let them leave, but then they really liked it,” he said.

Officials at the state film office, he said, were really pleased that the producers chose Bethel and Maine.

“Smaller, independent films are our mainstays. They work really well in Maine. The crews don’t overwhelm communities, they hire a lot of locals and involve the locals,” Gadberry said.