A Christmas movie called Pining For Douglas was filmed in parts of Downtown Stratford last week, including Market Square.
The film, directed by Leif Bristow, tells the story of a town named Douglas built around a 200-year-old Douglas Fir tree.
“A new industry is coming to town that’s promised jobs, but where they want to build their new headquarters will mean the demise of the tree,” said Bristow.
Bristow, who has worked on 26 Hallmark movies, said they chose Stratford as a filming location because Douglas needs to have the charm of a small town.
“When we came in here and looked at the physical area around Market Square, we said this just feels right for this town,” said Bristow.
The heroine in the film is a social media specialist, played by Brittany Bristow.
Her goal is to figure out how to save the tree. There is a love story, too.
“It needs to have that Hallmark card look for me as a filmmaker. I always try to explain that to the cast and crew because we specialize in romance and holiday films. I believe my job is to make the Audrey Hepburn movies of today.”
He added that the movies always have to feel like they live in a snow globe, a vision that he tries to bring to life wherever they film in the world.
To convey to audiences that this film is set in the winter, the background actors wear winter coats, scarves, mitts, and hats, the lighting crew lights things differently, snow blankets are used, and the sidewalks are watered to give the visual of melted snow.
Bristow said after Stratford, they will be filming for another week in the Hamilton area, and then begin the major part of post-production.
“When our editor gets the footage overnight, the next day he is editing all the scenes I did the previous day,” said Bristow.
“Five days after we finish filming, he will have an assembly of the movie and from that point, I’ll work with him to get the best cut of the movie. We lock the movie in about three weeks afterwards, and eight weeks after that, we will deliver the film to the broadcaster ready for airing.”
He hopes the film brings inspiration to the audiences watching through showcasing love, family, and togetherness.
The film will be airing on the W Network in Canada, with pretty good odds of being shown on Hallmark.
For when exactly it’ll air, Bristow said he won’t know for another 2 to 3 weeks.
