EXCLUSIVE: Ellen Pompeo is lining up another project as she scales back her presence on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.
The SAG Award-winning actress is combining forces with noted documentary producers Glen Zipper and Sean Stuart for the nonfiction feature The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier, a film about Alaskan sled dogs preparing for retirement. Pompeo and Laura Holstein are producing through Calamity Jane Productions, while Zipper (Undefeated, Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes) produces through his Zipper Bros Films; Stuart (Sly, Willie Nelson & Family) is producing for Sutter Road Picture Company.
Ukrainian native Eddy Gudakov will make his feature directorial debut on the documentary.
‘The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier’
Calamity Jane/Zipper Bros Films/Sutter Road Picture Company
“The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier takes place deep in the Alaskan wilderness as two women, musher/adventurer Cindy Abbott and author/illustrator Denise Lawson, prepare a group of elite sled dogs for their most challenging journey yet — retiring and finding new homes as pets all across the United States,” notes a synopsis of the film.
The synopsis continues, “Cindy and Denise have ventured down different paths in life, but a mutual love for dogs and the outdoors has brought them together. Their bond grows as they guide Alaskan sled dogs through their transition from working dogs into retirement, instituting a slow and thoughtful process that allows time for the dogs to learn things that household pets pick up when they are young.”
In a statement, Pompeo said, “We are thrilled to come aboard this project with Glen and Sean who are both masters of documentary filmmaking along with Eddy whose gorgeous cinematic storytelling brings together all the elements needed to make this film captivating to worldwide audiences.”
‘Dogs’
Netflix
Zipper wrote and served as executive producer on the Emmy-nominated Dogs, a Netflix docuseries about the incredible relationship between humans and their canine companions.
“When we created our series Dogs for Netflix my mission was about more than just telling stories about dogs,” Zipper commented. “It was about honoring our bond with these special souls and exploring how they are so much more than just our pets. I couldn’t be more excited to be continuing this storytelling tradition with Ellen and Eddy on The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier.”
Zipper is repped by CAA and Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis. Pompeo is repped by CAA, Linden Entertainment, The Lede Company and Hansen Jacobson.
Pompeo is a well-known dog lover and companion to a shelter pup named Tom that she adopted last year from MaeDay Rescue in Los Angeles. In June 2023, MaeDay posted a photo of Pompeo and Tom on Instagram, writing, “He now has an amazing family, dog brothers and sisters and so much love. Tom was born in the desert to a dog that a family found on the streets and didn’t realize was pregnant.”
Producer Glen Zipper
Courtesy of Jeff Kravitz
Before Zipper became a documentary producer, he served as an assistant prosecutor in Hudson County, New Jersey. Back then, a canine encounter set him on a different career trajectory.
“My journey from being a prosecutor to producer started with finding a stray dog on the street, which brought me to an animal shelter and me seeing what those dogs were up against,” Zipper said in an interview with Deadline. “And I literally went to work, turned in my badge and went to volunteer at an animal shelter.”
Zipper explained that the joy he discovered helping dogs inspired him to ask a question of himself. “I said, ‘Well, I want to feel this way for the rest of my life. How am I going to do that? I’m going to pursue my dream of making movies.’ And so when I was able to find some success out here and achieve that dream, I said, I need to pay back this debt.”
That goal led to the Netflix Dogs series and now to The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier.
“One of my agents at CAA, Amanda Lebow, sent me some footage for The Way Home. And I saw the footage and I saw the vision from our filmmaker and I said, ‘I definitely want to be part of this,’” Zipper recalled. “I remember there was about 10 minutes of footage to look at. I stopped it after two minutes and immediately emailed my agent because I didn’t want to risk in the eight minutes it would’ve taken to watch the rest that some other producer would’ve come in and taken it from me. So, I just said, get me a meeting as quickly as possible. I want to be part of this.”
Production is underway on The Way Home: Dogs of the Last Frontier. No anticipated release date has been announced. CAA Media Finance is repping the film for worldwide rights.