Shooting Nutmeg & Mistletoe Bonus - The Writers Arrive on Set

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)

Questions or thoughts? => charlie@abyssal.co

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