For many actors, the typical fifteen-day filming schedule for a Hallmark Channel movie sounds like nothing short of a Christmas miracle. To see it in action, it’s a well-oiled, well-splattered, twinkle-light-covered magical machine.

As many know, most of these films film in the summer – and this weekend’s entry, Jingle Bell runwas no exception.

The film sees elementary school teacher Avery (Ashley Williams) and retired hockey player Wes (Andrew Walker) reluctantly team up to compete for a holiday theme. Great breedstyle reality show called The big holiday dash. Naturally, sparks fly as they travel across the country in search of challenges related to holiday traditions in various American cities.

With Williams and Walker as guides, PEOPLE had the rare opportunity to spend a day on the film’s set to see how the seasonal sausage is made.

The arrival

It’s already in the 60s and sunny on June 13, 2024, around 10 a.m., when I arrive in an upscale neighborhood outside Vancouver, Canada. I’m dropped off in front of an Adobe-style house that looks like it belongs in Santa Fe, New Mexico – which works out well since Avery and Wes’ challenge today takes place in the southwestern city.

Nearly two dozen crew members are putting up Christmas decorations and putting the finishing touches on the home’s entrance, a gate with a sign that reads “Casa Estrella.” Just beyond the gate, a bunch of piñatas have already been carefully hung like stockings on a large pergola for the next scene. And behind them I find Williams in the shade in a turtleneck, sitting with Walker, who is wearing a thick shirt and his character’s red team jacket.

Despite the heat, both actors laugh and joke. Walker, 45, doesn’t hesitate to define the appeal of filming holiday movies. “We get to celebrate Christmas two or three times a year. And every time you are swept up in the magic of it,” he says.

To prepare for the scene they’ll be filming, Walker says the characters Wes and Avery “have been in conflict for most of the story.” We have different approaches to getting things done, but I quickly realize that she is an asset. to me I am an asset to her. And right now we have a budding interest in each other.

Williams, 46, adds: “Mm-hmm, yeah. We had a flirty little chat. It was mostly planes, trains and cars to get here and we’re in the top four at this point in the movie.”

An hour later, the set and crew are ready to roll, and the actors do a few quick walk-throughs before the cameras start rolling just after 11:15 am. In the scene, Avery and Wes run to the gate, thinking they are the last to arrive and discover that they are in fact the first.

From here the action moves quickly: Walker and Williams do two or three takes, the cameras shifting to capture every angle, and they do a few more with each new setup. Within an hour it’s time to move on to the next scene at another location on the property.

No wasted time

As the crew breaks down the gate scene to set up another one where the host explains the rules of the next challenge, Williams and Walker head to the enormous garage attached to the house next door, where a makeshift photo studio awaits.

Here, the actors compete with each other as they pose for character portraits – both individually and together – and try to pretend they’re looking for images that can now be seen on the movie poster.

When they’re done, it’s not quite time to start rolling again, so we sit on a lawn at the edge of the site. “The number of locations in this movie is crazy,” Walker says as he pulls an orange from a child’s backpack (a Williams joke), peels it, and offers me a slice. “How do you even find a place like that?”

“Our director, Lucie Guest, said there are 63 different sets in this movie,” Williams says in awe. “And for the budgets we’re working with, this is a very ambitious film.”

It’s also Walker’s first Hallmark film with a female director, a shortage Williams is personally trying to address with her Make Her Mark director training program. Both actors admit that making Guest laugh is one of their goals when filming most scenes. “That is based on trust,” says Walker. “We trust that when she smiles, she will also tell us what to do and what not to do.”

Williams says, “She’s funny, caring and makes everyone feel comfortable. Everyone really lines up. I think they respect the person above them. And Lucie is just such a perfect example of how a woman can do that.” ”

At 1:30 p.m., Williams, Walker and the rest of the cast rehearse the dialogue-heavy scene, which takes place amid a slew of hanging piñatas, and at 1:51 p.m. they begin filming. In between takes, the actors joke with each other, take selfies and make social videos. An insect flies into Williams’ eye and she heroically tries to keep filming. After a short break to remove it, her eye continued to water and it looked painful! – they were all at it again.

One more for the road

Around 3:30 PM everyone took a break for lunch, and Williams, Walker and I returned to our lawn to eat and chat. Nearby, the makeup artists stood in a circle and did a round of squats as we cheered them on. The network favorites reflected on their fans.

“Nurses and teachers, those are our No. 1 and No. 2 fan bases, and Ashley, the perfect person to represent teachers, plays this role as a teacher,” Walker says. “And I’ve witnessed her moments, these genuine, very vulnerable moments. She’s so honest and authentic about it.”

Williams responds, “When we go to Christmas Con and other different areas where we get to know our fans and develop a relationship with them and learn what resonates with them, hear directly from them, it means that I, as a producer, director, and actor for Hallmark, really enjoy dealing with these sensitivities. It’s been such a cool aspect that I never expected when I first started years ago.”

Walker added, “This is a very unique situation, community and opportunity. They make me want to bring my best game every time.”

After dinner, Walker and Willams took time to review the next day’s script, both together and individually. The makeup artists, freshly recovered from their squats, came by for a touch-up and everyone was back in action shortly after 5 p.m. This scene involved teams hitting the piñatas in hopes of breaking one of the three that contained a clue to the next location.

Filming this was particularly complicated, as cameras had to capture both the entire group and the three individual teams from different angles. Several rounds were done without anyone even trying to actually hit the piñatas, and then the pairs were allowed to break them one by one. Each broken piñata was filled with confetti, in addition to the few with clues, and required a noisy, time-consuming reset to clean up after each take – with the help of leaf blowers.

As daylight began to wane and the crew hoped to take out one more scene before it ended, I said my goodbyes as Williams and Walker prepared to make one more attempt to figure out their clue.

“When they first called me about this movie, they said, ‘It is The great breed but at Christmas.’ And then they said it would be with Andrew Walker, and I said, ‘Where can I sign up?'” Williams says. “We live two minutes away from each other and we have two boys the exact same age and each other’s keep. I can’t believe we’ve never made a movie together. So this is such a dream come true.”

“What a dream,” Walker agrees.

Jingle Bell run premieres Saturday, November 16 at 8pm ET/PT on Hallmark Channel.