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| image: Liliana Tandon, UPtv's "A Ring for Christmas" |
I am delighted to share with you all today my interview with Liliana Tandon, star and writer of "A Ring for Christmas," which premieres this Sunday night, November 8th, on UPtv!
In my Q&A with Liliana we chat all about her new movie, how they were able to film "A Ring for Christmas" during this interesting year, what it was like working with her incredible co-stars, plus her own annual Christmas movie favorites and much more! I hope you enjoy our chat below...
Net Movie Blogger: Welcome to “It’s a Wonderful Movie,” where we chat about family friendly
movies on TV! Please share with us the plot/story behind your new movie “A Ring for Christmas.”
Liliana Tandon: A Ring for Christmas follows Angie Moore, a spoiled single girl who gets cut off 25 days before Christmas. But upon
discovering the existence of a sizable trust fund that she will inherit once
she gets married, she decides to find a man to marry… by Christmas! And though
she journeys back from the big city to her small hometown for all the wrong
reasons, it is by re-connecting with her family and her past that she is able
to re-discover herself and the magic of Christmas.
A Ring for Christmas is anything but
typical! It’s similar to the usual tv Christmas movies in all the best ways: it’s
fun, festive, and up-lifting. But it definitely has some differences that make
it special. You’ll have to watch on UPtv to find out more! It is premiering on
November 8 at 7 PM ET, but will play throughout the Christmas season. Check www.uptv.com for the full schedule! Don’t have cable? No problem! Watch
live through Philo, a live tv streaming app that you can use for 7 days free!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: How thrilled were you to learn your story was going to
become a movie? How did that come to be?
Liliana Tandon: I am so excited! I still can’t believe it! Especially this year, as things have been so
difficult, it was so incredible to have the premiere on UPtv to look forward
to.
For most of my life and career, I
have been solely an actress. I never thought that I’d want to write and create my own work. However, as most
people know or can guess, the film industry is extremely difficult to break
into. It’s hard to feel like you have any control or autonomy over your own
career when you’re always waiting for someone else to give you your “big break.”
A few years back, I got an idea for a web series, and after writing it,
producing it, and starring in it, I was quickly convinced that creating work
for yourself is the way to make things happen! It felt great!
I’ve always loved Christmas movies — classics and made-for-tv films
alike. So when it came time to sit down and write my first feature, a Christmas
movie seemed like a fun first story to tell. I wrote the script with help from
my mentor Laura Boersma, one member of Granfalloon who were producers on A
Ring for Christmas. She read many drafts and gave me invaluable input. And
when it came time to make the movie, she was the one who introduced us to
Michael Lurie, Jeffrey Giles, and Alex Coscas, our producers at Storyworks.
They’ve made a ton of Christmas movies, so we were very lucky to team up with
them. Then they really assembled the team and made it happen!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: Could you tell us a little about your character, Angie
Moore?
Liliana Tandon: Angie was such a fun character to write… and to play! She is
definitely not perfect, but she has the biggest heart. She has experiences from
her past that have shaped her (not always in the best ways) but she genuinely
wants the best for herself and for the people around her. And she’s super
smart! Angie is an extremely relatable character, and the audience will have
fun watching her growth and transformation over the course of the movie.
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: How long was the shoot and where was it filmed? Was “A Ring for Christmas” filmed, before or
after the virus?
Liliana Tandon: We shot A Ring for Christmas over the course of three
weeks in February and March 2019 — well before the virus lockdowns, thank
goodness! We filmed primarily in Weston and Newburyport Massachusetts. We did
do some re-shoots in February 2020, luckily those were completed before the
lockdowns as well. Then all the final post production was finished during
covid, but luckily a lot of post production can be done by one person,
remotely!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: Was your Christmas Movie actually shot in the winter? Did you have faux or real snow?
Liliana Tandon: As I mentioned previously, we filmed primarily in February
and March in Massachusetts — and anyone from the Northeast can tell you that is
still the dead of winter! All the snow in the movie is real. We had the first
big snow storm of the winter right before shooting started, which was
pure luck! We were really relying on that for production value. You need snow
in a Christmas movie, and there’s nothing like the real thing! I’m going to be
honest, it was definitely tough sometimes. Some days shooting outside in the
cold was really challenging. But it is all worth it when you see the film — it
looks absolutely beautiful. The production value that we got just by where and
when we filmed is priceless. And the town of Newburyport is such a perfect town
for a Christmas movie! It is so quaint, and the people there are so nice! They
were so generous, allowing us to take over their shops and streets for a week.
We decorated the whole town to look like Christmas, which was fun to keep the
holiday season going and definitely helped set the festive mood! Huge thanks to
our entire cast and crew who stuck it out through those cold shoot days!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: Now that you are in a Christmas Movie… do you, perhaps,
have an all-time favorite Christmas Movie, you watch every year?
Liliana Tandon: My family and I have a tradition of watching Miracle on
34th Street every year — I absolutely love that movie. As a lover of romantic
comedies, I also am a huge fan of the Kate Winslet-Cameron Diaz holiday
romance, The Holiday. Honestly, I could watch Christmas movies any time
of year!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: Do you have a favorite scene in “A Ring for Christmas”?
Liliana Tandon: There is a
scene near the end of the film between myself and Michael Gross — I won’t give away
any spoilers, but I loved shooting that scene so much. Michael was such an
incredible scene partner, and a lovely person. Any scene with Michael or
Lorraine felt like a masterclass in acting!
The opening
montage was also so fun to shoot! We went with a tiny crew to the Bryant Park
Christmas Shops in New York, and just wandered around, window shopping and
drinking cocoa. Not bad for a days work! I really felt like a kid again!
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: The bridal gown in the movie is so lovely... how was it
chosen? Did you enjoy dressing up?
Liliana Tandon: Thank you so much! We borrowed a few gowns from Mon Cheri
Bridals. They were kind enough to let us use one of their dresses for the
movie! I tried a bunch on with Hollywood, our costume designer, and the one you
see in the movie just fit absolutely perfectly and looked stunning on camera. I
absolutely loved getting to try on wedding dresses because… I had
just gotten engaged in real life! My fiancé Jon proposed to me in December
right before we started filming — so I got a ring for Christmas in real life!
So it was super fun to get in the wedding mindset and try on some wedding
gowns.
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: What was it like working with your co-stars?
Liliana Tandon: I still have to pinch
myself when I think about the unbelievable cast we had!
Dean Geyer, who plays Gabe, was very
fun to work with! He’s best known for Glee,
and I wish if I had known we’d get him I would’ve made his character a singer!
But he and Charles Hittinger, who plays Tyler, were very fun to have on set — they
kept things fun and light, which was extremely helpful when we were shooting in
freezing weather and when we had really long shoot days.
Lorraine Bracco and Michael Gross
were absolutely amazing to work with. Lorraine is an Academy Award nominee and
was in The Sopranos, one of the most iconic shows ever made, so to have her
playing my mother was a privilege. She is an incredible, powerful presence on
set — I was definitely intimated at first! But she was such an important part
of the team. I remember one night we were shooting a scene in which the town
lights the big Christmas tree in the town center. We shot the movie outside of
Boston, mostly in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in March — which, anyone who is from
the Northeast can tell you, is still the dead of winter! We were shooting
outside in 12 degree weather… before windchill. It was absolutely freezing. It
would’ve been understandable for Lorraine to stay inside until right before the
director yelled “action,” and then go back inside right after he yelled “cut.” But
she was out there with all of us, setting such an incredible example for
everyone, and she definitely helped keep spirits up!
Michael Gross is just as kind and
generous as you’d imagine! Just an
incredible nice and warm guy. We had a few scenes together that were quite
emotional, and he was so engaged with me and was right there in the
scene with me. He was such a generous scene partner and made me feel so
comfortable right off the bat. And after we finished our scenes, he
asked me if we could take a picture together! Just that simple act meant
the world to me. And that’s just the kind of person he is.
Net, It's a Wonderful Movie: What do you hope viewers will take away from watching
your Christmas Movie, “A Ring for Christmas”?
Liliana Tandon: This year has been so extremely difficult, and many people
won’t be able to celebrate Christmas with their families this year. If A
Ring for Christmas can bring some joy, some cheer, and some festiveness to
even one person who has to spend the holidays alone or who is missing a loved
one this year, I’ll be filled with warmth. The holidays can’t come soon enough
this year — I think we could all use some cheer!
Thank you, Liliana, for doing this interview with me. It was so nice to have this conversation with you. It sounds like it was such an amazing experience for you creating this film. I love the look of real snow in Christmas movies - so I'll definitely look forward to seeing that and all of the wonderful cast in this movie.
Great interview Net. UPtv plays some really cute Christmas movies. I just wish they would play them more often through the week like Hallmark does.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Liliana on writing and starring in A Ring for Christmas!
ReplyDeletewonderful interview!
ReplyDeletedenise
Thank you so much for posting this interview, Net! I plan to be watching this movie!
ReplyDeleteMisty
I can’t wait to watch this!
ReplyDelete