and work with a cast that was primarily children, noting that this was the first family-friendly project she had ever done. Wood described her character as passionate, especially in her dedication to the violin; while Treu said that Emily "likes to be in control" and "really enjoys being involved in the lives of her younger neighbors". Wood appears in almost every scene in the film and Treu was impressed by her professionalism, recalling how she could shoot an emotional scene, take a break to attend school, then return to the set and pick up right where she left off in the scene. Because she did not know how to play the violin, Wood spent two months prior to filming learning how to mime playing the instrument along to the music. Even though the actual sound she produced did not matter, with Wood describing her violin playing on set as sounding like "fingernails on a chalkboard", she was surprised by how difficult it was to make her miming look realistic. Treu explained Wood's preparation process: Meanwhile, auditions were not held for the role of Philip because Treu knew early on that he wanted Angarano for the part. Gallagher was cast as the "hunky" David, with Treu stating that the actor personified the "red-blooded all-American young man" and had a natural charisma that drew girls in. The director also noted that despite his young age, Gallagher had been acting for such a long time that he probably had the most on-set experience of the cast. Filming Little Secrets was shot on a small budget in the summer of 2001. Like the majority of Treu's previous productions, filming took place entirely on location in Salt Lake City, Utah, with specific locales including Downtown Salt Lake City and the area around Cottonwood Mall. Local child actors were cast in many of the supporting roles. For the neighborhood scenes in the film, Treu returned to the same location that he had previously shot Wish Upon a Star in. Treu favored this particular neighborhood due to its unique setting that consisted of newly-built houses surrounded by old-growth trees, resulting in what he felt was a "magical quality". Moreover, the houses were relatively big and had high ceilings, making them ideal for filming. Time was of the essence for the filmmakers, as the young cast was attending school and could only shoot for a few hours each