Making movies and Christmas both require a bit of magic.
In spring 2023, when the Nova Scotian landscape was about to burst with spring greens and flower buds, Halifax producer David Keefe was in a race with Mother Nature, transforming the small town of Mahone Bay on the province’s South Shore into a winter wonderland.
Using some tricks of the trade, like fabric snow and calling in the town fire department for a “wet down” (hosing down the street so it glistens as if with melted snow), procuring a truckload of fresh-cut Christmas trees and handmade wreaths from a local producer, and using a vault of holiday décor from a seasonal festival, Keefe had just about everything he needed to transform the trendy summer destination into a scene ready for Santa. Except the lights.
While Keefe was shooting his movie in Mahone Bay, the Hallmark Channel was shooting another movie a few kilometres down the coast in the village of Chester. He heard through the industry grapevine that Hallmark had contracted a local holiday lightening expert to illuminate their festive sets. Cue Joshua Jackson.
Christmas light décor has become more of a vocation than a job for Jackson. After retiring from a 15-year naval career, he was ready for something new. He explored several business options but on the insistence of his wife, got wrapped up in the idea of starting Lit Lighting, a holiday and outdoor lighting business.
“The navy is great training for entrepreneurship,” says Jackson. “It creates discipline and mission, things that are very important for business.” Time spent on the top of tall ladders on naval ships with ocean rolling under you is also excellent training ground for a lighting installer who is often climbing to high rooftops and trees with spools of Christmas lights.
“I feel like the Christmas business is a great business to get into. I don’t think Christmas is going anywhere,” says Jackson.
With in days of receiving Keefe’s call, Jackson sourced thousands of lights needed to trim the roof lines of Main Street in Mahone Bay, and a home in South End Halifax that appeared in several scenes. It was hard. LED lights have their place in the real world and other aspects of movie production, but if you want to capture the twinkle of Christmas lights on film, old-school incandescents are essential.
“Think Griswold family Christmas lights,” says Jackson of the number and quality of lighting he needed for the production, comparing it to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. “I learned that LED lights mess with the cameras and create blotchy light on film. You need to go old school with incandescent bulbs. We stuck to traditional with red, white, and green bulbs.”
Working on a movie set was a lot of fun for Jackson, who learned his new lighting trade by attending Christmas College in Dallas, Texas. Like a most things, Texas does Christmas in a big way; the state is becoming a training ground for all things related to Christmas décor.
“I was amazed at how quickly production moved. Everything is on such a tight timeline,” says Jackson. It took all of three weeks to make the film adaptation of the book Christmas Land by American author Anne-Marie Meyer, whose romance novels are set in small-town U.S.A.
Keefe’s movie was picked up by Hallmark in post-production. Hallmark had released another movie under the name Christmas Land a few years ago so they rebranded the movie as Believe in Christmas. Keefe’s movie and the other filmed in Chester are two of 47 new movies coming from Hallmark this holiday season.
Before selling the movie to Hallmark, the Nova Scotian production filmed at springtime needed to pass the litmus test for winter authenticity. The metres of fake snow, camouflaging with Christmas trees and twinkle of lights all needed to meet the quality assurances. What was fake in production and in special effects must look real to the viewer. Believe in Christmas ticked all the boxes.
“I would love to think that Nova Scotia could find a new niche as the place for Christmas movies,” says Keefe. “The movie was all about people coming together to overcome an obstacle. Everyone came together to make this movie. Christmas is about fun. We had a lot of fun making this movie.”
KEEP YOUR SEASON MERRY AND BRIGHT
Joshua Jackson has a fun job putting up Christmas lights for a living. Since starting his business in 2022, Jackson has installed thousands of lights, countless metres of garland and hung hundreds of wreathes for homeowners and businesses on the East Coast. While he provides professional services for a variety of clients, he shares a few tips so you can light up your home with holiday cheer and enjoy the most of your holiday season.
When is the best time to install your Christmas lights?
Christmas lights shouldn’t really go on until after Remembrance Day, but it’s best to pick a warm, dry fall day to get your lights up, and wait to turn them on until the time is right. We can run into messy weather on the East Coast in November. It’s a lot more fun putting your lights up when you are not cold and wet.
There are a lot of different bulbs on the market. What is more popular and does price matter?
Warm white is the most popular. If you don’t know the difference when you are buying warm white gives a gold hue and cool white gives off silver. I would like to say that you get what you pay for with lights but sometimes you can spend a lot of money on lights and the next year you go to use them they don’t work for some reason. That’s frustrating, but it’s a reason why people use companies like ours, because we bring our own lights and we maintain them throughout the season.
Lights are expensive. How do you get the most bang for your buck?
If you have a limited budget or are not able to physically able to hand a lot of lights, just focus on your roof line and your main entrance. You can get a lot of wow factor with one focal point. If you have more lights and an ability to put them up safely, then think about framing the house and following the roof lines, then windows, doors, and then shrubs and trees to have some lighting towards the ground.
What are your go to safety tips for installing Christmas lights?
Never put your lights up alone. If you are going up on a ladder make sure that you have someone spotting you. Do not go on your roof unless you are tied off. Very few homeowners would have the proper harnesses. You shouldn’t put your lights up in winds over 20 kilometres per hour. You should always be away of any power lines running into your home. There are a lot of visits to emergency rooms when the Christmas lights are going up. You don’t want an injury to ruin your Christmas.
What should you look for in a professional installer?
This is an area where you get what you pay for. If you are having anyone do work around your home make sure they are insured. Also make sure that the person you have hired shows no sign of impairment. They should also have the proper safety gear. Remember to ask these questions.
How long should you keep your Christmas lights on and when should you take them down for the season?
A lot of people still turn their lights off right after Christmas. Others leave them up until New Years and some keep them on well into winter. I think if you are using white lights, you are more apt to keep them on longer. The light is nice to have on dark winter nights. Sometimes people turn off the lights installed on their home and just keep tree and shrub lighting on as winter décor. Taking lights down have the same considerations as putting them up. It needs to be done safely. That means that if there has been a storm and there isn’t a safe place to put your ladder or if there is any ice on your roof, you have to leave the lights until there is a thaw.