If you read my last article on Christmas movies, you’ll know that I love this time of year, love writing about this time of year, and love watching Christmas movies. I don’t watch them all. How could you? There are so many.

Christmas movies are all over the airwaves right now with several coming out each week. Pop stars are making them; A-list actors are making them, even Ashley Greene (Alice in Twilight), Dolly Parton, and Patti LaBelle have made Christmas movies. 2020 has made us want to believe in goodness and want to see uplifting entertainment in our final month of an otherwise challenging year.

There is so much choice when you scroll through hundreds of channels to see what entertainment to watch. And no longer is it just the major Hollywood studios like Universal or Warner Bros. making theatrical releases.

Netflix, Amazon Studios, Hallmark, and many more channels are making their own content for your viewing pleasure. Even IMDb, Facebook, Apple, ION and everyone ever associated with entertainment with a built-in audience and viewership is now getting in the game.

The Christmas movie market is exploding. It used to be the greeting card company/TV channel had the market cornered with their Countdown to Christmas and original programming. Then Lifetime got in the game with their event, It’s a Wonderful Lifetime. Last year, we saw 40 original Christmas movies on Hallmark and many on Lifetime. This year, Hallmark released 40 more, which is amazing when you consider filming was curtailed for most of the year because of COVID-19.

This brings me to my next point: writing your Christmas movie to a particular market. If you aren’t a known screenwriter in Hollywood circles, you may find that writing a movie like the musical Jingle Jangle with expensive CGI (computer-generated imagery), and pricey actors will be harder to sell than a low-budget Christmas romance that takes place mostly in a bakery with a small cast.

Consider this: the bulk of Christmas movies are made with a limited budget and have a four to six-week shooting schedule with no CGI. The budget is eaten up with fake snow, an essential for Christmas movies. I once had to take a skating scene out of a script because of the cost of replicating an outdoor rink in Atlanta in the summer. And having a dog and trainer on set jacks up the budget so most of my Christmas movie families no longer have pets. Likewise, having a scene with a pen of reindeer is like saying, “I probably won’t sell this movie.” If they’re reindeer who can talk, that’s even worse.

If you want to write a movie with CGI, talking reindeer, and skating rinks, go ahead. You might sell it. Just don’t be surprised when you hear the producers took out the reindeer and the rink scene. If you want to sell to the market that’s buying most of the movies, be aware of the budget restrictions of making these movies. In The Christmas Chronicles 2, Kurt Russell drives a sleigh with flying reindeer who dodge and slalom their way through the Aurora Borealis in an impressive chase scene. If the producers could afford Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, you can assume they could also afford major CGI and all that green screen elfery magic. The Christmas Chronicles is the exception to the rule, though. It is the brainchild of writer-director Chris Columbus (Harry Potter). Scads of people were banking the movie would become a Christmas classic like The Polar Express, The Grinch, Elf, or The Santa Clause with a huge viewership and reruns for decades. Kurt Russell was so invested in the franchise he wrote a 200-page character study of Santa.

If you’re a new writer, ask yourself what your end goal is. If it’s to sell your $50 million movie that has a fantastical North Pole, a flying sleigh with reindeer, and superstar leads; then write your movie like the sky is the limit and hope that you find a producer who will take a chance on a new screenwriter. Netflix’s holiday sensation Jingle Jangle has elaborate sets, costumes, crowd scenes, dancing, singing, and flying toys but keep in mind the writer-director, David E. Talbert, is a well-respected name in Hollywood. An alternative is to write something with a smaller budget like Home Alone or A Christmas Story, both holiday classic movies that appeal to kids and adults alike. Or, write a thriller like Die Hard that’s set around the Christmas season and spend the next decade arguing that it’s a Christmas movie. Writing a Christmas movie according to what a particular channel or streaming site is airing allows you to appear more targeted to the producer. Channels have brands. If you haven’t given that any thought, you might want to. For example, family viewing or inspirational/faith-based channels have clear guidelines catering to a particular audience.

If you haven’t sold a script, any script, here’s a question you need to ask yourself before starting on a Christmas movie: do you want to take a chance and write a gay-couple romance for a channel that only bought one inclusive Christmas movie this year and may only buy three next year? Or do you want to increase your chance of getting your movie made by sticking with the channel’s tried and true brand and budget? If you choose to write something outside the box, remember that according to the law of averages, making a sale might be more difficult. Low-budget Christmas romances with Christmas trees and fake snow and cookie baking and light conflict is the market that buys the most screenplays. Family Christmas movies with all-star casts, CGI, and elaborate sets are written mostly by established screenwriters with Hollywood pedigree and big agency backing.

The market may eventually even out for the sheer volume of Christmas movies being sold and shot but I’m not sure it will ever disappear. The season of goodwill and jingling decorations offers something very unlike the rest of the year, thereby making Christmastime a wonderful movie backdrop. Can you think of another time of year that is ripe for hunkering down with a cozy blanket and cocoa to watch a heartwarming movie to get your feel-good quota for the day? I can’t.

Whatever you want to write, either within a chosen market or not, enjoy the process of being immersed in Christmas during the writing process. It’s a wonderful place to be in your head for two months. Finish that thing, sell it and get your movie aired on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Studios, HBO, NBC, ABC, CBS, OWN, ION, CW Network, Lifetime, Hallmark, BET, Sundance TV, INSP, Disney, AMC, Freeform, TNT, TBS, UPtv, USA, or YouTube!

Then, park yourself in front of a screen and enjoy the happiest time of the year in the fantastical world of Christmas.

Kim’s next article will focus on writing either three acts or the elusive nine-act structure for Christmas movie markets.