Over 150 made-for-TV holiday films will premiere this season.
Heres what its like to work on one.
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to a group of smiling background actors.
Its hard to make out the dialogue over the sound of cicadas reminding us that its still summer.
and time to reset the stack of papers to do it all over again.
The leaf-blower man crouches attentively.
Were almost ready to roll until Hey, can we have quiet from the trolley?
A set decorator quickly lint-rolls Winokurs elf suit.
Last year, MGM and Walt Disney Pictures each released nine new films.
The Lifetime online grid released 35, and those were just the ones about Christmas.
These movies are audiovisual Christmas ornaments.
These women love the companionship of these movies to have on during the day.
I love Christmas the way only a Jew can.
Did I know a single role Lacey Chabert had outside ofMean Girls?
These movies do not seek to win awards or impress Film Twitter.
A cynic could say these films feel paint-by-numbers.
These movies do not simply arrive on my parents TV or Jodie Sweetins IMDb page fully formed.
To learn how they are made, I decided to embed with one.
Rita, a worried-soundingproducer says into her cell phone with a sigh, went to the wrong Hilton.
This is but a minor snafu.
This is just life imitating Lifetime.
Over the next few days, I will hear it mentioned at least twice more.
An executive producer named Gina Rugolo is behind the wheel.
Im the queen of Christmas, she says.
This is a dream job.
(She tells me she walked through the whole airport the other day in a Santa mask.
Sit outside the maternity ward?
I congratulate her on how her Disney Channel kids seem less screwed up than most.
Tia and Tamera Mowry, for example, have robust careers starring in made-for-TV Christmas movies.
(At least once, Tias Lifetime entry has gone up against Tameras Hallmark one.)
It scored the biggest ratings in the networks history.
Hart calls these movies a safe place to go for viewers.
I also think the holidays bring a lot of sadness.
These movies are an escape.
Were dressed in bright-green Alex Millmeetsboiler-mechanic jumpsuits.
Hart will later tell me that the shoot schedule on this kind of project used to be 20 days.
Now its down to 16.
Do you want it good, fast, or cheap?
you could pick two, she says.
And of course, these are always done fast and cheap.
The paid background actors wont start until tomorrow, which frees up a little bit of the budget.
(Tommy from the art department yells Think fast!
and tosses one at me underhand in what Ill consider my on-set hazing.)
Crew members arent the only parts of this production doing double and triple duty.
Theres an energy shift on set when Moreno arrives.
Good morning, everybody!
she says in a stage voice.
We all know shes Rita, and I suspect she knows we all know shes Rita.
While the crew sets up the camera on a large dolly track, Moreno chats with us jumpsuited stooges.
She is 90, and she declines multiple offers for a chair.
She is open and chatty and wants to know if we have any pranks planned.
I love mischief, she says with a twinkle in her eye that would make Santa blush.
When we start rolling, Moreno delivers her line 20 different ways (Letthere be Christmas!
), then Hart films us decorating the hall.
Her attitude while giving direction, to both actors and camera-people, is efficient and calm.
Rebecca, go inspect the nutcrackers!
Theyre talking, of course, aboutMistletoe in Montana.
Kinney has the requisite TV blowout curls and eyes the size of tree ornaments.
The owner of the houses daughter actually has her own line of designer leggings, she tells me.
Wiz Khalifa performed at her birthday party.
In Los Angeles, background acting can be a full-time job.
Producer Rugolo tells me her brother started working as an extra at age 50.
In sitcom pre-shoots, actors forget to hold for a laugh.
Thats where he comes in as a professional laugher.
He can also do drama.
Hes died more onGreys Anatomythan anybody else.
They probably didnt have shirts with big red Christmas ornaments printed on the backs, either.
Jai, who shows up every day dressed impeccably, swaps his silver-glitter oxfords for Army boots.
Hes hoping to make it in the industry and has already had some local commercial work.
Im usually a drunk, a homeless guy, or a cowboy, he says.
Background actor Todd hands me his phone and says, Im thinking of getting this tattoo.
Should I get it?
Its a picture of a stomach tattoo surrounding a guys belly-button to make it look like a monkeys anus.
As long as hes not asked to do aSanta Bootcampnude scene, I dont see the problem with it.
The extras job is to sell the idea that this home office is Hogwartsian in scope.
to the nonexistent cheap seats.
Marissa, can we do 75 percent on this next one?
Hart asks after she calls cut.
They say that Belle was his muse.
Is it okay to joke about sex with a ghost?
And one of them wassnack trays!
We agree that euphemisms almost always sound far more perverted than the words themselves.
By the third day of making a Lifetime Christmas movie, I relate to Elmo.
and sensitivity (hes delicate with the Anaheim chiles!).
Because female leads character traits often amount to busy and klutzy, Emily falls and Aiden catches her.
They run this scene possibly a dozen times.
In one of the takes, she tripped and fell for real, Gaston tells me later.
Christmas is a contact sport.
Instead, theyre located in a small town with a walkable Main Street lined with charming businesses.
These small family businesses fictional struggles are then interrupted by commercials for Walmart and Amazon.
Last year, Murray followedThe Christmas SetupwithUnder the Christmas Tree,a rom-com for Lifetime lesbians.
It was this sensual moment, he says, but the shooting schedule was tight and it got cut.
Hes still not over it.
Science fiction is a designers paradise, he says, because even a pen is special.
Its embedded in my flesh.
The dress is almost cute, more cosplay than verite.
The other background actors arent as lucky.
Jennas in a snowman suit, and Jai, the tallest of the group, is naturally an elf.
Theyre at the level of exaggeration I wish more of these movies would embrace.
Its a running joke, says Monica.
We start with a small bow and get progressively bigger and bigger over the course of the movie.
It wasnt in the script.
It was my idea, and people went with it.
After lunch, hordes of children swarm the set like lantern flies.
Theyre the nieces and nephews of crew members and friends of Harts son Tucker.
The party were filming involves badly behaved children testing the patience of the bootcamp recruits.
For the first time on set, Im seeing tiny cracks in the snow globe.
Tucker has a scene with love interest Aiden (dressed as Santa).
This approach seems as if it would work with actors of all ages.
(Another person who is excellent with children?
I notice an unfamiliar cameraman taking B-roll footage.
It turns out hes making a promotional video for the Tennessee Entertainment Commission to attract more moviemakers here.
Its clear why shoots like this one are good business for the state.
The set decorator runs his own year-round Christmas store in Jonesborough.
These movies are training grounds for writers and steady work for production teams in smaller markets.
Its an efficient, chaos-free set.
And with that, Ive had enough Christmas for one August.
Murray later tells me hes hopeful that he and others will keep finding new directions for the genre.
You dont want to feel like youre writing and creating sausages on the assembly line, he says.
The last thing I ever want to do is be in the sausage-factory business.
Thats the biggest challenge.
Trying to write something that stands out from the bunch.
Even the unexpected casting of someone like Moreno suggests the humble TV Christmas movie is letting itself dream bigger.
Murray tells me that other networks inspired by Lifetimes success are getting into the business.
Its also a workplace movie.
So maybe theyll buy my screenplay; its a twist on the classic workaholic woman.
Im thinking Marissa Jaret Winokur for the lead.
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