In this interview from Day 16 of filming, the writers of Nutmeg & Mistletoe discuss the "surreal" experience of seeing their characters and locations come to life on set.

• Surreal Arrivals: Writers Jen and Deb describe the "magical" experience of meeting the cast and seeing the bed-and-breakfast set, which perfectly matched their visual imaginations.
• The Development Journey: The project involved a year of development and approximately 12 script rewrites before filming.
• Character and Costume Praise: The writers felt the casting for Mistletoe and Nutmeg was perfect and were particularly "tickled" by the "incredible" costume designs.
• Defining Magic Rules: A key discussion centered on the specific "rules" of elf magic: Clarence can slow or stop time at a future cost, Nutmeg must understand mechanics before fixing them, and Mistletoe’s beauty-focused magic sometimes conflicts with physics.
• Fresh Perspectives: The film stands out from holiday tropes by featuring two flawed female leads as the primary Christmas elves.
• On-Set Details: The writers were delighted by character-specific prop choices, such as a cupcake-eating habit and a hilarious sleeping mask with open eyes to show a character's "wired" nature.
• The "Imperfect" Message: The story explores the idea that even beings who live for hundreds of years, like elves, suffer from the same insecurities and blind spots as humans.
• Favorite Holiday Films: The group shares their top Christmas movies, including A Christmas Story (despite the "horrible" source book), Christmas Vacation, A Muppets Christmas Carol, and the 2004 film Noel.

Jen Bascom
Deb Dodge

Also see their first interview video (or listen to Season 1 Episode 3)

Send a text

Questions or thoughts? => charlie@abyssal.co

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We started our 18-day shoot of our Christmas comedy called "Nutmeg and Mistletoe."

I decided I would just hit the record button, usually at the end of each day, with my thoughts what was happening that day? What I learned, and generally what being on set for 12 hours a day is like.

It is quite unfiltered and unedited (with the occasional beep) - hope you enjoy being backstage!

In this episode: Celebrating a birthday on the final day of the shoot, moving to the "Disney lot" at Golden Oak for Santa’s Workshop, $500 sets of prosthetic elf ears , operating C-cam to "steal" interstitial footage, using metal balls and color palettes for VFX reference, hacking the script to manage $50,000-per-hour overtime costs, performing "mental gymnastics" for a reverse-motion letter catch, the "contingency" fund, changing the penultimate scene on the fly, wrapping everyone and life "on the road". Time to start post.

A framed shot of Santa's workshop: https://imgur.com/a/C1hzwjg
Our prop master, Kesli: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5507420/

Send a text

Questions or thoughts? => charlie@abyssal.co

Get daily work updates on Instagram

We started our 18-day shoot of our Christmas comedy called "Nutmeg and Mistletoe."

I decided I would just hit the record button, usually at the end of each day, with my thoughts what was happening that day? What I learned, and generally what being on set for 12 hours a day is like.

It is quite unfiltered and unedited (with the occasional beep) - hope you enjoy being backstage!

In this episode: Navigating the "C-Cam" vs. Second Unit distinction, learning lessons about shooting background actors, the "disgusting" reality of the poo truck cleaning out the bathroom trailers, long-standing "last call" traditions with flowers and selfies for wrapping actors, "Snow Globe Gate" where a prop smashed and was fixed in 15 minutes, and filming the Electronic Press Kit (EPK) interviews.

Send a text

Questions or thoughts? => charlie@abyssal.co

Get daily work updates on Instagram