day. To that effect, cinematographer Brian Sullivan set up shots rapidly. Treu credited Sullivan for the film's "crisp" and "colorful" visual quality, which he felt exuded a big-budget look. Despite the tight schedule, Treu wanted to maintain a relaxed working environment; actress Vivica A. Fox recalled the mood on set as being positive and wholesome, while Wood described the experience as "very laid back". Release Originally titled Secret Keeper, the film premiered on October 21, 2001, at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. According to Heartland's president Jeff Sparks, it sold a record number of tickets to become the most popular film in the festival's history. The film, now retitled Little Secrets, went on to have its first screening in Utah on August 19, 2002, when it headlined the Salt Lake Children's Film Festival. It had a limited theatrical release in the United States on August 23, 2002, opening in 366 theaters. In its debut weekend, it ranked 30th at the box office, grossing $191,747 with a per-screen average of $523. The film dropped out of the top-100 list in its third weekend until its last screening in 12 theaters in its fifth weekend, grossing $2,364 and ranking 127th. Overall, Little Secrets closed out a disappointing theatrical run grossing $405,792 domestically and $344,790 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $750,582. It was released on VHS and DVD by Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment on February 4, 2003, with bonus features including outtakes, a commentary track by Treu and Barondes, a "making-of" featurette, and the film's soundtrack on a separate CD. Reception Critical reception In The New York Times, Dave Kehr wrote that Wood has a screen presence that belies her young age. Overall, he concluded that "Little Secrets is a sunny, pleasant, squeaky-clean family film in which nothing surprising happens, and that is the point". People magazine found the film "borderline saccharine" despite a credible performance by Wood, while Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times and David Noh of the Film Journal International likened it to an after school special. The News Tribune Soren Andersen and The Indianapolis Star Bonnie Britton were both full of praise for Wood, but noted that the plot was too contrived at times. Despite its flaws, Macdonald, Noh, Andersen, and Britton were all won over by the film's earnest, well-meaning intentions, which they felt were a respite from the other overly-commercialized or vacuous children's films.