A movie about Christmas in small-town Maine began filming Friday in Biddeford and will be shot in four communities in southern Maine this holiday season.
The independent film “Holly Star,” a comedy, will be shot around downtown Biddeford and at Ferry Beach in Saco, as well as locations in Kennebunk and Portland. Filming is scheduled to last until Dec. 21, said Scott Taylor, one of the film’s producers.
Friday’s filming took place on Gooch Street in Biddeford. Taylor said some of the scenes to be shot in the coming weeks include a car crash and a “Hollywood-style” Christmas tree lot.
Both Taylor and the film’s director, Michael A. Nickles, are Maine residents, though they’ve worked in Hollywood. Taylor lives in Brunswick and Nickles lives in Saco.
The movie is a Christmas comedy focusing on an aspiring puppeteer who loses her job in New York City and returns to her home in a small town in southern Maine. The plot involves her search for a sack full of money she believes her grandfather buried somewhere in town years ago while he was dressed as Santa Claus.
The film’s actors all have experience in Hollywood films and TV, though none are stars. The aspiring puppeteer is being played by Katlyn Carlson, who played a TV executive in “The Jim Gaffigan Show” and had a small role in the new film “Going in Style,” starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Joey King. Others in the cast are Teya Patt, who played Janet in one season of the TV series “Weeds,” and Brian Muller, who has appeared in episodes of the TV shows “Blue Bloods,” “Madam Secretary” and “The Good Wife.”
Taylor has worked on other indie films that were shot in Maine, including “The Witch Files” and “Night of the Living Deb.”
“The Witch Files” was shot this past spring in Brunswick, Bath and Portland and starred Holly Taylor of the FX series “The Americans” and Paget Brewster of the CBS drama “Criminal Minds.”
Nickles’ work includes the golf drama “Swing Away” and the horror/thriller “Playback” with Christian Slater.
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