Jason Bourque’s experience growing up on the Kingston Peninsula and Quispamsis brought a unique storytelling perspective when directing the Hallmark Channel movie, A Christmas Tree Grows In Colorado.
Bourque first began making and writing movies and music videos when he attended Kennecebasis Valley High School and UNB Saint John. He graduated from Vancouver Film School in 1996, made his first television film in 2002, and has worked across many genres over the 20+ years of his career.
“To this day I love doing work that is inspired by growing up in small towns,” he said. “On the flip side of it, A Christmas Tree Grows In Colorado takes place in a very small fictitious town.”
Colorado stars Rochelle Aytes and Mark Taylor as Erin and Kevin, who live in Brooklyn, Colorado, which is gearing up for its annual Christmas celebration. Erin is planning the celebration and wants to win over Kevin so he will allow his spruce tree to be used in the town’s holiday festivities.
A Christmas Tree Grows In Colorado post (Credit: ©2020 Crown Media)
“What makes these movies is chemistry and we all know it, we all feel it when it’s there – that’s definitely something that they had together and it made my job so much easier,” Bourque said, who highly praised his leads. “We probably played up on the diversity, which really worked for the story, and they were all willing to onboard.”
The movie was filmed in Hope, B.C., in July during a heatwave and required many digital effects and tons of fake snow to pull off the appropriate holiday environment. “Everybody’s sweating underneath their big giant coats, we’re and watching out for people walking by wearing shorts in the background,” he said.
Bourque explained the Hallmark Channel was one of the first entertainment companies to learn how to film and work during the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were all wearing masks, we were all getting temperatures checked on the way and assigned colours and stayed in our certain areas to pull it off as safely as possible,” he said, adding Ayes and the film’s executive producer quarantined when they arrived from Los Angeles. “Luckily at the time Hope had no cases of COVID.”
Hallmark Channel’s Christmas movies typically have a production schedule of 15 days, but this time shooting extended to 16 days in order to accommodate COVID-19 protocol when filming. “It is a little slower dealing with things like makeup, hair and dealing with extras as well because we have to keep social distancing,” said Bourque.
Working for a big corporation and brand like the Hallmark Channel was different in comparison to working on his own independent features.
“The process is that they have kind of guidelines that we follow to stay with tone,” he explained, adding one can look at different ways of shooting, such as the montages of baking or gingerbread house building, but the films’ predictability is a key feature. “The audience knows exactly what to expect and that’s what Hallmark wants, they want to you watch something that feels very comfortable and familiar.”
Colorado first aired on November 24 on the Hallmark Channel in the U.S. and on the W Network in Canada. It is re-airing throughout the holiday season.
Bourque’s future plans include a number of thriller films in development and the release of a film he produced, Time Got Louder, directed by Connie Cocchia and inspired by her experiences growing up with a non-verbal autistic brother.
“It really is about surrounding myself with really good people to work with – that is key, it’s just trust and respect and having a great team of creatives,” he said.
This story was originally published on Huddle.Today – an Acadia Broadcasting Limited content partner.
