FESTIVAL OF TREES Is All About the True Spirit of Christmas
By Movieguide® Contributor
Husband and wife duo Drew Waters and Erin Bethea teamed up for the upcoming Christmas movie FESTIVAL OF TREES.
“FESTIVAL OF TREES is essentially the story of an interior designer Jacquie, who decides that she needs to level up her design business and be seen for the artist that she actually is and that the answer to that is to enter the Festival of Trees competition,” Bethea told Movieguide®’s Cheryl Crisp.
The family comedy is a “little bit DEVIL WEARS PRADA” Bethea, who stars in and served as a writer and producer on the movie, revealed.
“She’s up against the big, established, a little bit rude designer that is the one to beat, and she and her tiny little design studio…they’ve got to kind of go up against them,” the FIREPROOF star said. “And along the way, she really learns the lesson that Christmas is not about just the decorations and making the perfect tree and all of that stuff, but through a series of very funny, silly, fun antics, she kind of is reminded that Christmas is about others.”
“It’s about giving. It’s about generosity. It’s about who you gather with over the holidays and demonstrating love and care for them and that sort of thing,” Bethea went on to say. “So it’s just like a really funny movie with a heartbeat.”
Waters who directed FESTIVAL calls it more of a “buddy comedy” than a rom-com.
“We got nothing against romcoms…, but we just didn’t want to make a rom-com Christmas movie,” Waters said. “Christmas is about kids and family and enjoying and having fun and seeing the beautiful lights and Christmas trees and everything else. And so we just wanted to get back to that kind of feel for this Christmas movie.”
Bethea added to the theme of friendship and family, recalling the friendship that develops between Jacquie (Kate Miner) and her assistant, Heather (Sara Hayter).
“There’s the family you’re born into. There’s a family that you choose at some point in your life, that are your friendships and your community and people that become family, and I think that we get to see that defined a lot throughout this movie,” she told Crisp. “Our lead character talks about in the film that she doesn’t really have a family anymore, and yet, you see with her friendship with Heather…that this friend that she trusts and is so loyal to, this is her chosen family.”
Speaking of friends, the movie was shot in their community with some of the couple’s comrades being part of the movie.
“I think what people will see is the love that was put into the film when they watch it on screen,” Bethea said.
“[W]e were essentially having a Christmas party every single day with our friends, and making something funny and sweet, and we were laughing a lot. The movie’s got a lot of silliness in it,” she added.
JoJo Regina, who plays Rachel Holliday in FESTIVAL, gave a shoutout to her costar and Waters in a post promoting the movie.
“So thankful for all the people who worked so hard to get this one done, especially the super funny @thedrewwaters and super talented and lovely @erinbethea,” Regina posted on Instagram.
READ MORE: FESTIVAL OF TREES REVIEW
FESTIVAL OF TREES will air on UPtv on Nov. 24, 2024.
PEOPLE announced UPtv has 12 other Christmas shows on the docket this season, including:
- COUNTRY ROADS CHRISTMAS, starring Lanie McAuley, Bo Yokely and Bailey Chase
- THE CASE OF THE CHRISTMAS DIAMOND, starring William Baldwin, Kelly Daly and Dey Young.
- UP TV will also air a Gaither Music special GAITHER VOCAL BAND: NEW STAR SHINING.
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