Among the wide array of holiday activities and events in western Nevada County, one of the more recent additions of traditions has garnered a following far from Nevada City where the story was filmed.
“The Christmas Card,” a full-length feature film shot here in the 2006, continues to lead folks back to Nevada City. The popular movie was actually Hallmark’s first Christmas hit, as screenwriter Joany Kane discusses while revisiting the script she wrote and the film that has helped put Nevada City back on the map as a tourist destination.
“The Hallmark Channel’s nearly 300 Christmas movies have helped it become a ratings giant during winter,” CNN reported. “Joany Kane wrote one of Hallmark’s first holiday romances, shaping a genre that has become synonymous with the channel. She shares her story and her tips for anyone looking to write Christmas movies for television.”
See the video interview here: https://www.cnn.com/videos/movies/2023/12/19/hallmark-holiday-movie-christmas-zt-contd-orig.cnn
The film stars John Newtown, Alice Evans and Ed Asner.
Longtime local historian Steve Cottrell captured the story behind the story for The Union in a 2021 column.
“In 1999, I was working on a Christmas romance screenplay set in Vermont,” Kane explained. “Hallmark bought the script in 2003 and it was Lincoln who felt, upon reading it, that Nevada City was the ideal home for the story and championed the town for the movie. Thank goodness he did, because Nevada City is a beloved character in the story; it’s as if the story and the town were meant for each other, true soul mates. There’s magic in Nevada City; in the landscape, in the town, in the people. And we see that on screen.”
In case you haven’t had your chance to catch “The Christmas Card” for your own annual viewing, the film can be found at Amazon and various online streaming services.
