The film's journey to the big screen began back in 2004 when screenwriter Mike Rich found himself inspired during the Christmas season.

"I noticed a handful of magazine articles on the Nativity, on Mary and Joseph, the Magi, the shepherd; all of the characters I'd carefully placed in my family's Nativity set every year when I was growing up," says Rich. "And it occurred to me that while I knew, visually, how the journey to Bethlehem ended, I had very little idea of how they got there, what kind of people they were, and what kind of challenges they likely faced. As a person of faith myself, and as a storyteller, those were compelling questions."

Those questions proved compelling enough that Rich set out to extensively research the subject, spending the majority of 2005 studying every aspect of the story and turning it into a screenplay.

"I found myself drawn to the amazing choices and decisions that Mary and Joseph made, relying solely on their faith in God and each other," says Rich. "It was a joy to write; not because it was a huge, epic, event-based story, but because it was just the opposite. It was a personal, intimate story of two ordinary people carrying out this absolutely extraordinary mission."

Producer Wyck Godfrey adds, "This is really the story of a girl whose personal faith takes her on a very difficult journey. She doesn't know whether it's going to work out or not, but she has a faith in something and the fact that it will pay off in the end and deliver something extraordinary."

In order to create the film version of this well-known story, Rich researched not only the people involved, but the era in which they lived as well. "I had to really delve into the sociopolitical, cultural, and economic dynamics of the time, "he says. "That actually gave me a lot to work with because you get a real feeling as to what Mary was dealing with."

In addition to his own in-depth research, Rich turned to a number of experts from a variety of fields and enlisted their help to assure the accuracy of his work.

"Very early on, we wanted to get this script out and into as many hands as possible," says Rich. "Historians, theologians, Judeo- Christian experts, Catholic experts, Ecumenical experts – they have all helped elevate the authentic feel of this film. Not only visually, but from a standpoint of culture and tradition."

With a strong screenplay in place, the next step was finding the right filmmaker to bring the words to life on the screen. Producers found that person in Catherine Hardwicke.

"We chose Catherine Hardwicke because she cuts against the grain of the picture-book version of the movie that could have been made," says producer Wyck Godfrey.

For her part, Hardwicke was honored to have the opportunity to helm the project. "This story means so much to people all over the world," she says. "I hope audiences can relate to the film on a personal level and find some inspiration to get through their own challenges and difficulties."

The attention to detail and commitment to authenticity extended beyond the screenplay to the production itself. Having been a production designer for many years, director Catherine Hardwicke was adamant that the locations and set look and feel real.

"We were looking for epic intimacy in a way," says Hardwicke. "We want it to feel very big and beautiful, this epic journey these people are on, and have it evoke this whole other time and beautiful landscape. But we want to feel what these people felt…to give you that intimacy and scope at the same time."

In search of the perfect backdrops, Hardwicke and producer Wyck Godfrey traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of locations that still had the right look and feel for the project. Unfortunately, there has been so much modernization in the country that shooting in Israel was ruled out early on, but they did run across something that proved invaluable.

On top of a hillside in the modern city of Nazareth sits a contemporary hospital, and behind that hospital there remains the footprint of the original Nazareth village. Archeologists were brought in to determine how long it traced back and indeed, the rocks and building formations trace back to the time of Christ's birth. So, with the help of historians and theologians and inspired by what they had seen, they set out to re-create a working replica of what Nazareth would have looked like during the time of Jesus.

Production Designer Stefano Ortolani began the work of constructing a version of Nazareth in Matera, a small town in Southern Italy that the filmmakers found to be the perfect location for the production.

With Matera providing the perfect backdrop, Ortolani and his team set about to bringing their re-created Nazareth to life. The production team took existing rock and matched it with plaster replicas to create buildings and passageways.

Villages were always centered around the well, so the art department laid out a city built upon that principle and positioned other community buildings such as the olive press, the wine press and the synagogue nearby. Houses were positioned up the hill as the town would naturally expand upward, away from the flat lands that would have been used for the wheat and grape fields.

Consultants and scholars from the Nazareth Village served as advisors on the town's construction. Some of them even traveled to Italy to lead the actors and production team in a "Nazareth Boot Camp." Cast members were given lessons in how to bake bread, milk goats, press olive oil, and plant wheat. "The research was important because the idea of the movie is to really recreate the conditions and situations of the time," says production designer Ortolani. "Catherine is meticulous about what we're doing and we had some consultants from Israel come here and they gave us a lot of information that helped the movie and the acting."

The art department took their cues from the landscape and created the town of Bethlehem surrounded by several natural caves cut into the rock. Once again matching stone with plaster, they took special care in building stables for animals using natural woods and twine that would have been available at the time.

The dedication to every little detail of the production is reflective of the overall approach to this film that has been taken by everyone involved in its creation. From the writer to the director, the cast to the crew, it is clear that The Nativity Story is much more than just another film project. "Everybody involved really shares a passion for this particular story," says Rich. "I've never been around a project that's had such a unity of support and passion for what we're doing."