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A ten-year-old boy writes to Santa Claus asking him not to come this year. Naturally Mr. C must investigate this strange request.
Ten-year-old Edward Krieger doesn't want Santa Claus to stop by this year. Why not? Because there's too much yelling at his house.
Claus himself writes back: "Ed, you threw Santa Claus for a loop. The last time somebody told me not to come, the guy's name was Scrooge. I had to send out three of my best people to work him over."
Thus begins an innocent correspondence. But Mr. Claus is a busy man, and Edward is busy himself, growing up, beginning to notice a certain Miss Shannon Lunt... and helping his family through a rough time.
Through letters, Santa inspires Eddie to bring Christmas to his family and friends all year long... even when that means doing something yucky like telling his big sister that he loves her. Of course, Santa picks up a few pointers along the way from his young protege as well.
But as Eddie's family continues to struggle with loss and new hopes, Eddie asks one more Christmas wish of The Fellow In The Red Suit. This time Eddie needs a real miracle.
Ten-year-old Edward Krieger writes to Santa Claus asking him to not stop by this year "Because there's too much yelling at my house."
Shocked, Mr. Claus himself writes back: "Ed, you threw Santa Claus for a loop. The last time somebody told me not to come, the guy's name was Scrooge. I had to send out three of my best people to work him over." Santa reminds him that he is also bringing presents for the rest of Eddie's family, so Eddie relents.
As the Christmas holiday draws closer, Eddie's family delights in the usual rituals: dressing the tree, decorating, Christmas concerts, etc. But something is bothering Eddie. He is almost constantly in trouble at school, his latest crime being hitting another child for making fun of the letter from Santa that Eddie brought for Show and Tell. His teacher, Betty Schmall, is mystified and powerless to help the boy.
Edward's father Brian is facing his own troubles at work. While hosting a home-cooked meal with his boss, Mr. Barlow, Brian learns that his position at a model aircraft company may be in jeopardy. Brian's fifteen-year-old daughter Maureen, already miserable and further dismayed to see that her father is unwilling to fight harder to keep his job, sneaks out and runs away. Eddie writes to Santa Claus asking if anyone at the North Pole has seen his big sister.
A fruitless search for Maureen ends as Brian, Edward, and the youngest Krieger, seven-year-old Ingrid, drag themselves home. All are overjoyed to discover that Maureen has returned, but her anger at her father has not subsided. Edward writes again to Santa, informing him that "My sister came back from running away, and she's still as mean to me as ever. Please disregard the previous message."
Almost nothing can suppress the joy of Christmas for this little family: shopping for presents at a toy store, a pet shop, the mall. Even Maureen musters up a smile, though she maintains "I hate this holiday."
At a Christmas Eve church service Edward and family run into Betty Schmall, and Edward reluctantly introduces his teacher to his father. (Eddie has always assumed that when school got out teachers went back to their planet.)
Even Eddie can't miss the sparks that fly between his father and his teacher. Too weird.
Christmas morning dawns as magically as Eddie has ever dreamed. Mr. Claus has brought everything everyone wanted... it seems. In the midst of the present-opening revelry, Brian's friends and co-workers Tim Grimm and Connie Chappell arrive and invite everyone to a party -- which they're holding at Brian's house because he needs cheering up. Brian's protests are easily overruled, and a few hours later the house is filled with laughter.
Connie's teenage son Courtney romances Maureen in one corner while Connie, Tim, and Brian read aloud funny entries in the company's "Indecent Proposal" contest, in which the person with the most entertaining story about a marriage proposal wins a thousand dollars. Eddie just eats.
Surprise guests turn out to be Betty Schmall and Shannon Lunt, a family friend of Betty's and a classmate of Eddie's (and his secret crush). More sparks between Brian and Betty, and more weirding out by Edward.
In the year that follows, Edward watches his family struggle with anger, sadness, and loss. On a family visit to their mother, Maureen refuses to even get out of the car" Ingrid's scary devotion to violent video games and her disturbing habit of destroying her toys -- usually by hitting them with a big rock -- grows. Eddie tells every detail to Santa Claus, who always writes back... until one day he doesn't.
And things start to fall apart. Edward's school problems escalate to the point where Betty Schmall demands a parent-teacher conference.
Santa merely forgets to write, but Eddie doesn't know that. Eddie finally asks the question that all children ask sooner or later: Is Santa Claus a fake?
Santa does his best to reassure the boy, but Eddie decides that only one thing will convince him that Santa is not a fake: a real miracle.
That miracle -- and how it tests both Santa and Eddie's faith in everything that Christmas is all about -- may prove too big for even Santa to give.
The film Santa's Letters is the culmination of an eight-year journey from page to screen. "I wanted to figure out a way to give Christmas presents to everyone on my list without going broke," said writer-director Emmett Loverde in a recent interview. "Individual gifts can get too expensive and writing out a hundred cards can break your hand -- and I didn't want to resort to a Christmas Letter." (Though he has nothing against Christmas Letters, he quickly added.)
His solution was his annual Christmas Story. Self-written, self-designed, self-published, and self-bound, Emmett's Christmas Story has been an annual event every year since 1992. It is a major Christmas ritual for Emmett (weeks of work) and a minor one for the 200+ friends on his Christmas list. "This past Christmas -- 2000," he notes sadly, "I broke tradition slightly by only sending out an e-mail version of the story. Working on Santa's Letters took up so much time that I was barely able to get a new story written. Printing, binding, stamping, and mailing it was just too big a job."
The 1993 Christmas Story was called "Santa's Letters". "A question popped into my head," he recalls. "A simple question. What if someone wrote to Santa Claus and asked him not to come?" A story composed entirely of letters back and forth sprang to life in a matter of days. "it was dialogue from the very beginning," he notes. "A conversation. I love the art and craft of the short story, but dialogue seems to be the most natural form of writing for me." (The "Santa's Letters" short story is available on Emmett's Web page at www.emmettloverde.com.)
Within two years, after a warm reception by his friends and readers for the short story and a live performance of the piece at a Christmas party, Emmett had rewritten "Santa's Letters" as a screenplay. "The Christmas party reading was a huge help. It was performed by my father, Frank Loverde, and a good friend, Robert Brown. I watched the audience very carefully through the entire thing. They were mesmerized. Of course, I had two mesmerizing actors, so that may have been the sole cause." The reading also reminded Emmett of the strength of the material. "Almost every scene in the screenplay was either suggested or directly outlined in the original story. I lifted entire paragraphs of dialogue."
He also lifted the story's earnest tone. "I showed the screenplay to an older, well-known television actor -- a master comedian -- who is a friend of myself and my father. He liked it and said he would consider doing it as a stage play if it were, uh, funnier."
"Funnier" turned out to be a tall order. "It occurred to me," he laughed, "what if Santa Claus were a mob guy, and the North Pole was a big syndicate that controlled all the holidays -- Easter, Halloween, even the Tooth Fairy? Only this mob isn't evil." Emmett labored over the script for months, adapting it for the stage, adding a sidekick for Santa (the name "Vinnie" was suggested by friend and muse Debra Margolis), letting the comic tone already present in many of the scenes shine through, and adding new scenes.
"I knew this was a radically different image of Santa than I've ever seen before," he notes. "Even the annual Christmas cartoon specials that we all grew up with -- none of them dared to present Santa as anything other than wise, gentle, and understanding. Probably the most radical portrayal was in 'The Year Without Santa Claus' which suggested that Mr. C might want a year off once in a while." Emmett's version of Santa was a rougher character -- a bit more human -- but he believes the traditional Claus virtues of wisdom, patience, and kindness are still there.
The chance to put on the play with the name actor fell through, but Emmett pursued a stage production nevertheless. His play Mergers and Acquisitions had just finished two back-to-back successful runs in Santa Monica and Hollywood, and he was approached to put up something else. He held a staged reading of Santa's Letters -- now a full-fledged comedy -- in Santa Monica on January 15, 1999.
Because of the difficulty associated with finding and rehearsing child actors, Emmett used adults for all of the parts in Santa's Letters -- even that of seven-year-old Ingrid Krieger.
The cast of the reading consisted of actors whom Emmett had either known for years and worked with many times or ones he had met during the casting of one of Mergers and Acquisitions' many incarnations. "I hate holding auditions," he noted. "The best way to find out whether an actor is interesting is to see them on the stage. No camera tricks, no flashy film editing to save a bad performance. While it's true that the stage can't show if an actor is photogenic, it can make very clear whether or not they're watchable!"
Among the watchable actors were Joe Greco, Sally Ann Smith, Ferrell Marshall, and Rena Heinrich, all of whom ended up in the film version of Santa's Letters. "My father has known Joe Greco longer than I've been alive. Joe has that Chicago feistiness and Midwestern warmth that I have always associated with my family. And when he put on that red cap, Santa Claus became real to me."
It was Joe who pointed out to Emmett that the adult actors could convincingly play children. "After he listened to me fret about how hard it is to find good child actors, he pointed at the rest of the cast and said 'Emmett, you could put the play on with these people. They're brilliant. I buy every one of them.'"
Emmett knew he was right. Sally Ann Smith (Ingrid Krieger), not only an adult woman but a relatively tall adult woman, melted so completely inside the persona of a seven-year-old girl that it was almost eerie. "I was introduced to Sally by [actor-director] Jerry Castillo, who directed her in a staged reading of my play The Maginot Line. She has a startlingly genuine innocence about her -- and can she ever act."
Emmett had seen Ferrell Marshall (Shannon Lunt) starring in Beau Jest at Glendale Center Theater in 1996 and never forgot her. "She carried the entire play effortlessly," he recalled. "She was absolutely in command and absolutely fascinating to watch." Emmett remembers being so amazed that he passed up a chance to meet her. "My agent at the time had brought me to meet the director to discuss Mergers and Acquisitions. I was raving about Ferrell and somebody offered to introduce me to her. But I was too nervous. It was like meeting a movie star. I just couldn't do it." But he never forgot her performance and got in touch with her two years later to ask her to audition for Good Business Sense. "I didn't even want to waste her time asking her to audition but I wanted to be sure that the rest of the production team felt the same way I did." They did, and Ferrell starred in Good Business Sense for three months. "I always thought that Eddie [Krieger] would be enchanted by Shannon Lunt as I was by Ferrell: to him she is a movie star. I never even considered anyone else for the part."
Rena Heinrich's "school photo"
Rena Heinrich narrated the 1999 reading. "I knew her as a reader from church," Emmett said. "I'd always liked her style, but had never seen her take on a part." Reading narration tends to be a thankless job and not a great opportunity for an actor to shine, but Emmett heard something special in Rena's work. "She has this clear, musical voice. A big moment for Rena's character [Betty Schmall] is when she reads a short passage aloud. Much of the emotional power of the film is carried in that moment. Rena and I are both lectors at our church -- we read aloud from The Bible. No, I'm not comparing the script for Santa's Letters to The Bible, but I wanted when she reads aloud for her to have that same reverence for the words -- that same desire to tell a story that heals -- that lectors are urged to have." It helped that not only was Rena a thoroughly-trained actress, but an elementary school teacher as well. "Talking to children is not something most adults know how to do," Emmett sighed. "Many resort to baby talk. Rena knows what a teacher actually sounds like: respectful yet firm. Her scenes with the 'children' -- even when they tower over her -- leave no doubt as to who is in charge." Rena's teaching background yielded another small benefit: a convincing school picture ("Those are so hard to mock up," moaned Emmett.) Oh -- and Emmett added one more thing: "I wanted Betty Schmall to be 'fall-in-love-with-able', the way that Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan is." Is Rena "fall-in-love-with-able"? "Watch the film," he grins, "and try to hold onto your heart."
Following the successful reading, Emmett tried to marshal his strength to produce the actual play... and couldn't. "I was too tired," he sighed. "Fun and fulfilling though it was, putting up Mergers and Acquisitions twice the year before took a lot out of me. I had nothing left to give."
So Santa's Letters -- The Play was put on hold indefinitely while Emmett focused on his writing... or tried to. "I'd always kept my ear to the ground regarding technology," he noted, "and I could hear a train coming."
That train was digital video editing.
"For years the Amiga had always been the affordable machine for desktop video editing -- but not for anything else," he said. "But in 1999 Apple launched its video offensive, prices on camcorders came way down, and I just got tired of waiting."
His first purchase was a JVC Super VHS camcorder. "A mistake," he laments. Not only did the camera break three times -- in three different ways -- during the first year he owned it, but the format itself was a dead end. "I love Super VHS, but to edit on a computer the tape needs to be digitized." Emmett estimates that he could have purchased a high quality digital video camera for what he spent on the JVC camcorder and a computer digitizing card. "Now I use the JVC for vacation movies and fun. It's broken again, but I can still use it if I'm careful. The idea of taking it in and paying for it to be fixed yet again just makes me too angry."
Emmett purchased a Macintosh G3 and dove into his first digital movie: a re-edit of his 1997 short Snacking. "It was tough for me to revisit Snacking because I had already moved on from it." The short was a "sample scene" from Emmett's feature-length screenplay of the same name. "Steve Sheeren and I produced the Snacking sample scene in 1997 to sell the script and promote ourselves as producers, director -- me -- and actor -- Steve." But there had been no takers in 1997 and the sample scene was tucked away in the closet.
"It was hard for me to admit the scene didn't work," Emmett sighed. "But we sent it out to production companies all over the world and got no response -- I mean none."
The original cut of Snacking was eighteen minutes. Emmett gave it a brutal recut to thirteen minutes and began submitting the result to film Web sites such as Ifilm.com. Finally the film seemed to hit its stride: audiences laughed, and requests poured in from other Web sites to exhibit the film. Though the dot-com bloodbath has claimed a few of the sites as victims, Snacking still resides on four sites, including Undergroundfilm.com.
Next Emmett decided to shoot one of his favorite comedy sketches, Cranky Call, about an obscene phone call that goes horribly, uh, right. "It stars Steve Sheeren and Tory Haslinger, both of whom are delightfully funny people. We put them together and got magic."
That magic consisted of two relatively easy days of filming in Emmett's apartment... and six months of post production.
"Six months was a ridiculous amount of time to spend on an eleven-minute film, but more than anything I wanted to get the comedy right," said Emmett. "And getting comedy right means screening the film over and over again -- tweaking it after each showing." Lest anyone be concerned that he is merely capitulating to an audience's whims, he adds "They're my words. I'm not catering to the audience. I'm letting the audience tell me what's working and what isn't. And more often than not, I'm in agreement with them. But if someone dislikes something that I wrote so much that he gets up and walks out, I'm not foolish enough to think I could get that person to stay simply by tweaking the film. If he's that passionate in his dislike, he's out of my reach. But if someone wants to stay, wants to enjoy the story and the characters, but is distracted by a slow pace or bad sound or wordy dialogue, it's my job as filmmaker to fix whatever is interfering with their enjoyment... if I can."
He added that his background in legitimate theater -- and his degree in Theater Arts from UCLA -- have helped tremendously. "There is this image of the theater as such a 'pure' medium. Baloney. In New York recently I saw two shows: The Producers and a revival of another truly well-written comedic gem. The Producers tickets my girlfriend Brooke and I got by waiting in line for eight hours straight. The tickets for the other show we bought half price at TKTS. The Producers was done right -- if you don't believe me, read the reviews. The other play was done horribly wrong. Great play -- genius -- but bad execution. Bad timing, awkward staging, even garbled lines from the actors. If the care and love that went into The Producers had been put into the other play, I'm pretty sure I would have had to wait eight hours to get a ticket for it, too. Listening to an audience, figuring out where the laughs are and how to make sure they're not obstructed, working out routines so they run smoothly and can be seen clearly from anywhere in the house -- that's what makes great theater, and I believe that's a big part of what goes into making great film, too."
Though Cranky Call was a great success for Emmett in many ways, he was frustrated by the sacrifice. "I'd originally planned to make a series of five or six short films based on my comedy sketches, spending a few weeks on each. In between I would shoot music videos for singer friends of mine, freelance, etc. But six months to make an eleven-minute film??" he mused. "Even though I know a big chunk of that time was spent learning to use the software and hardware, I was just unwilling to spend that long on a single project unless it was a feature."
Yes, you read that right: Emmett actually thought he could make a feature in six months. "I was naive," he laughs. But, timing aside, the process of shooting a feature film on digital video was pretty familiar to him. "Union contracts. Feeding people. Costumes, lighting, camera. I was comfortable with all of it," he nods, "although I nearly blew it with the sound." (More on that later.)
Emmett chose Santa's Letters from the ten-plus feature-length scripts that he has written solo or in collaboration over the years. "Santa's Letters always just felt right," he smiled. "Every time I ever picked it up to glance through, I ended up rereading huge chunks. It just felt warm and comfortable. And I'd always think 'God I want to make this.'"
He realized that the passion that kept drawing him back to reread Santa's Letters could probably carry him through six months (har har har) of making it. Minor problems, such as how to depict the North Pole, could be worked out later. Santa's Letters was to be Emmett's first feature film.
By coincidence, Emmett's good friend Lisa Otto had been wanting to get into filmmaking herself, so Emmett asked point blank whether she'd like to produce Santa's Letters. "Not only was Lisa excited," said Emmett, "but she was organized. A dream come true."
Organizational genius also showed up in the form of Assistant Director Laurie Castonguay, who acted as AD on Snacking ("She kept me focused and we got an incredible amount of work done," gushed Emmett); and Costumer Suzanne Marchant, a veteran of both stage incarnations of Mergers and Acquisitions ("Dedicated, reliable, professional..." Emmett noted, "...oh, and a true genius at picking clothes that fit a character and that a real person might actually want to wear...")
The more Emmett pondered his decision to hire adult actors to play children, the better he felt. "Ultimately Santa's Letters is for adults and children," he said. "Dogs watch dog commercials. Children watch other children. Adults watch adults. I wanted to reach adults because I actually feel they can get more out of the story than children can. And," he smiled, "watching full-grown adults reach deep inside themselves to touch the children they once were... is miraculous. It's one thing to act childish; it's another to be childlike. The love the actors had for this material and for the story we were trying to tell is evident in every innocent glance and childlike gesture. The way they walk. They way they hold a fork or pour a glass of juice. The way a giggling fifteen-year-old glides downstairs in her first real party dress -- completely oblivious to how beautiful she looks. It's all there in Santa's Letters, and I hope adult viewers will be moved watching other adults reliving the most vivid part of all our lives."
Several actors who appeared in the 1999 reading of Santa's Letters were unable to do the film version because of scheduling conflicts, but Emmett raved about them nevertheless. "Julia Murphy is shorter than Sally Ann [Smith] by a foot or more, so it's tough to imagine she could convincingly portray Ingrid's older sister Maureen. But Julia's no-nonsense approach and her deep understanding of the mind of a bratty teenager -- I won't speculate any further on that -- remove all doubt." Julia's participation even went as far as a photo session for Santa's Letters, but health problems prevented her from actually appearing in the film. "She's fine now," Emmett noted. "She just got married and as a wedding present I gave her a clock made of a montage from her Santa's Letters photo session."
Stepping at the last possible minute into the part of Maureen was Mary Laina. "I'd known Mary socially for years," Emmett noted, "and of course I knew she was an actor but I'd never gotten a chance to see her act. I asked her to do a reading of Santa's Letters and was absolutely blown away."
Two other actors unable to participate because of conflicts were Steve Sheeren, a veteran of Snacking, Cranky Call, and Mergers and Acquisitions, and Lynne Donahoe, previously cast in Mergers. "I was truly sorry to lose Lynne and Steve," Emmett said, "not only because both are fine actors but because they are friends of mine, and having friends around can make a tough shoot ten times more pleasant."
Andrew Green took over Steve's role of Courtney Chappell, a teenage Don Juan, and Jillian Crane stepped in for Lynne as Connie Chappell. "I've known Andy -- excuse me, Andrew -- since college," Emmett said. "We were Pledge Brothers in a fraternity -- Phi Gamma Delta." Andrew is not known professionally as an actor; indeed, he has spent the last several years on the writing staves of TV's "Ellen" and "Suddenly Susan". "I asked Andrew to be Courtney simply because he is one of the funniest guys I've ever met -- we even used some of his improv in the final cut of the film."
Emmett met Jillian through the prestigious Los Angeles writers/actors group The Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble. "All the writers clamored to have Jillian read their scripts aloud," he recalls. "Not only could she bring a character to life on the first read, but her comic timing squeezed laughs even from weak lines. I wanted her on my side."
For the demanding role of Brian Krieger, the father, Emmett recruited Jonathan Arkin, a classically-trained comedic wiz that Emmett first saw starring in Much Ado About Nothing several years earlier. "I've worked with Jonathan on several projects," Emmett said, "most recently on Mergers and Acquisitions' run in Hollywood. I watched him turn a restless audience into a throng of admirers in minutes." Though film differs from the stage in that actors' ability to think on their feet in order to "save" a play interrupted by any of the countless problems that can ruin a performance, Emmett found Jonathan's quick wit and inventiveness extremely helpful on the set. "We needed a pot to boil merrily on a stove," Emmett recalled, "but we had neither the time nor the patience to actually cook anything. I'm not going to reveal details, but Jonathan and I rigged up a way to get the lid to bounce on cue. Maybe when the DVD comes out viewers can freeze-frame the scene and figure it out from the reflection in the pot lid. Unless we digitally paint that out later."
Emmett first met Tom Schanley (Tim Grimm) in 1986 when Tom starred in a friend's student film. Since then, Emmett cast him every chance he had: in staged readings of Mergers and Acquisitions, RSVP Regrets Only, Real Power, Desire Sleeps, and Little Secrets and in Snacking where he does a hilarious turn as a vaguely European movie director. Los Angeles audiences may recall Tom's riveting portray of Marc Anthony in Shakespeare Festival/Los Angeles' recent production of Julius Cesaer. "Tom was, is, and always will be a movie star to me," Emmett announced. "I consider myself incredibly lucky that he has been willing to appear in so many of my projects over the years. The only reason he hasn't been in more is because he works constantly as an actor and I don't always reach him first."
The part of Edward Krieger -- the character on which the soul of the movie depends -- ended up being cast just a few days before shooting was set to begin. "I'd met Bill [Mendieta] through an old roommate and saw him featured in a terrible play in which he had almost no lines," Emmett remembered. "But he was interesting." Emmett, Bill, and several others went out for drinks afterward. "I liked Bill immediately. He was quiet, but not painfully shy. He didn't worry about being the life of the party or the center of attention. I was sorry that I didn't have any projects going on at the time, but I promised myself that as soon as something appropriate came along I would offer it to him."
"Something appropriate" came up several times, but Bill's busy acting schedule interfered. Santa's Letters came up and Emmett invited Bill over to read for it and to participate in a photo shoot for the film. "I was so convinced that he was our Edward that I was willing to bet a couple of rolls of film on it," said Emmett.
Emmett needn't have worried. Though he taped Bill's audition for safety's sake, Emmett knew his hunch had been right within the first minute. "Bill was sitting there like a child," he marveled. "The way he moved his hands, the tentative way he spoke... I believed he was ten years old, I liked the character he was creating, and I knew that an audience would follow him anywhere." Needless to say, Emmett never bothered to review Bill's audition tape and he happily shot several rolls of film right on the spot (the photographs were used to create "family photos" that decorated the Krieger house set).
Emmett decided to shoot Santa's Letters himself using a Canon GL-1 MiniDV camcorder and a Lowel lighting kit. For his next movie he hopes to purchase a fluid head tripod, a boom pole, and several other goodies which add a professional sheen to a production "when used properly," he noted.
The shooting of Santa's Letters began on Saturday, August 5, 2000 at a private home in West Los Angeles, California. It lasted approximately 20 days, spaced out over two months. A small crew was utilized, at any given time ranging from one to four. On several occasions Emmett found himself operating the camera and holding the boom. "We used a short wooden pole for the boom," he remembered, "and tied the microphone to it with a sock. Goofy-looking thing. Sometimes the sock would bob into view, so I would have to paint it out digitally later."
Several of the actors were needed almost every day of the entire shoot. "The generosity and dedication of the cast and crew were incredible," Emmett raved. "They treated this in a completely professional manner. I was proud that they chose Santa's Letters -- and very lucky. I just hope they had a good time doing the project."
Left: exterior of the Kreigers' house. Right: interior of Santa's living room. Actually, Santa's living room is in the Kreigers' house.
Exteriors for the Krieger household and the interior of Santa's living room were shot at the home of producer Lisa Otto in South Pasadena, California. "Lisa has this wonderful fireplace and all this warm, friendly exposed wood," Emmett said. "And she had a big comfy chair that you would expect to find Santa Claus lounging in. But we forgot to bring Santa's intercom for Vinnie, his head elf, so we had to add that in digitally later."
Santa's intercom (complete with shadow).
Various exteriors of the Kriegers' home. An unretouched version is in the upper left corner.
As a matter of fact, many visuals in Santa's Letters were created or altered digitally. "We took four or five shots of Lisa's house," he recalled, "and replaced the sky, added Christmas lights, added holiday decorations, added lightning flashes -- whatever was needed. And I only scratched the surface of what was possible because I'm relatively new to the digital painting world."
A lightning storm at the Kriegers. Images on left are unretouched; images on right have been digitally enhanced.
Who Is Chompycat?"I work in an office with a lot of other artists, writers, and actors," said Emmett. "Alan Estridge works with me, and one day I saw a calendar he was working on that featured a cartoon character called 'Chompycat', a madcap feline who, uh, eats everybody and everything. I was amazed: the drawings were absolutely hysterical." |
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Emmett realized that Chompycat could fit very snugly into the world of Santa's Letters. "I wanted Edward and the other kids to have a popular symbol -- along the lines of Bart Simpson or Pokemon -- that would be everywhere in their world: t-shirts, backpacks, magazines, video games, but would not be rooted in a particular time or place in our world." Using a familiar cartoon icon was out of the question "because it would automatically date the film. If you saw Bart Simpson in Santa's Letters but The Simpsons was already off the air by the time Santa's Letters came out, you might find the film dated solely on that basis. And anyway," he chuckled, "I doubt I could have afforded to license Bart Simpson." |
Animation SensationEmmett invited Alan to create animation for the sequences in Santa's Letters that were shot in Santa's office at the North Pole. A large "green screen" was used during shooting which would allow Emmett to replace it with animation in post production. "Alan created these hilarious sequences of elves loading Santa's sleigh and chasing reindeer," he noted. "Stuff that really deserves to be seen all by itself, and not simply as background for other scenes. Hopefully we'll be able to include everything for the DVD." |
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Alan's animation also created all the exteriors for the North Pole. "He whipped up this zoom in over the mountains and down into Santa's village. And the village is a gem, with a runway for the sleigh, a corral for the reindeer, and Santa's own jolly little house." His happy brush with animation has inspired Emmett to adapt one of his short stories into an animated feature. "I'd love to work on a big project with no boundaries," he laughed. "In animation, anything is possible." |
When shooting wrapped in late September, 2000, Emmett envisioned a six-month post production period. "Boy, was I wrong," he chuckled. "We did have a rough cut ready to show at Christmas time," -- which he did, to an invited audience of friends -- "and I thought that was tough. But the real work hadn't even begun."
Such "real work" included extensive vocal re-recording sessions. "Most of the sound we picked up during shooting was practically unusable," he sighed. "Tape hiss, refrigerator hum, clothes swish, you name it, it ruined our sound. I sincerely regret not having recruited a dedicated sound mixer for this shoot, and I will not make that mistake ever again."
Finally, a final cut was ready in late August, 2001. Naturally, a private screening was in order. "I invited a bunch of friends over for a Christmas party in August," Emmett laughed, "and I greeted each guest at the door in an elf suit. My girlfriend Brooke was in this cute little Mrs. Claus number. Everybody seemed to have a wonderful time."
An elf suit? No donning the Santa suit itself? "I'm going to reserve that suit for Joe Greco to wear or no one. It's kind of holy for me."
| Director played by Emmett Loverde |
Mr. Loverde is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Berkeley, California and received a degree in Theater from UCLA. He has written extensively for stage, screen, television, and radio. Over seventy separate productions of his stage plays have been mounted worldwide to date. Films written, produced, and directed by Mr. Loverde include the comedy shorts "Snacking" and "Cranky Call", the feature "Santa's Letters", and several music videos. He is currently directing his second feature, an adaptation of his romantic stage comedy "Till You Get to Baraboo". His films have appeared in various film festivals including the Burbank International Children's Film Festival and the Bare Bones International Film Festival and are viewable online at several fine Internet sites. In addition to the scripts for the above films Mr. Loverde’s screenplays include the historical saga "C.C. Julian" and a draft of "Love at Second Bite" for George Hamilton; a feature-length version of his film festival satire short "Snacking" (based on Mr. Loverde's own zany experiences); the action thriller "CODEC"; the romantic comedy "Sweet Nothings"; the political drama "Real Power"; and the romantic drama "Desire Sleeps". Mr. Loverde's radio adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Moon Maid", for which he received a commission from The Hollywood Theatre of the Ear, was broadcast twice on National Public Radio and is available on Audible.com. His radio version of "The Killist" was produced by The One Act Players and can currently be heard for free on ArtistLaunch.com. His stage comedies include "A Timely Maneuver"; "Beauty, Brains, and Personality"; "Good Business Sense"; "Jesus Awakens the Little Girl"; "The Killist"; "The Maginot Line"; "Mergers and Acquisitions"; "Peace and Quiet"; "Play How You Play"; "'How I Spent My Summer Vacation' by Bobby Sox Age 8"; "Love Fax"; "Sensitivity, USA"; "Till You Get To Baraboo"; "God Answers Children's Letters"; "Santa's Letters"; "So Much Snow"; and "Uneasy Overture". Mr. Loverde also has seven titles in publication. His comedies "Beauty, Brains, and Personality"; "The Killist"; and "Santa's Letters" are published by Heuer Publishing (HitPlays.com). His comedies "A Timely Maneuver", "Good Business Sense", and "The Maginot Line" are published by Playscripts, Inc. (playscripts.com). And his book of short stories "Gifts for Good Friends" is available through BookSurge.com. Actors who have appeared in productions of Mr. Loverde's scripts include Scott Wolf (TV's "Party of Five" and "Everwood"); Taylor Nichols ("Metropolitan", "Barcelona", "Boiler Room", and TV's "Mind of the Married Man"); Richard Kind (TV's "Spin City"); and the late, great Avery Schreiber. Other projects that Mr. Loverde currently has underway include the development of a new TV comedy series called "One Plus One" and the writing and illustration of a children's picture book called "Clawdette the Cat". Theaters and production companies who have produced Mr. Loverde's plays include the Ritz Theater Company (New Jersey), the Hudson Backstage Theatre (Hollywood), the Bitter Truth Theatre (North Hollywood), the Vigilante Theater Company (New York), the Red Sea Players (Saudi Arabia), Yale College (United Kingdom), Cinco Ranch Theatre (Texas), Rowan University (New Jersey), the Paperbag Players (Canada), Culver-Stockton College (Missouri), Trinity Bible College (North Dakota), the Riccarton Players (New Zealand), Roswell Community Little Theatre (New Mexico), Aim High Productions (New York), The Coronet Theater (Los Angeles), Texas A&M University, University of Pennsylvania, University of New Orleans, Dirt Road Productions (California), Stageworks (Pennsylvania), University College of the Cariboo (Canada), Florida International University, St Cloud State University (Minnesota), Phoenix Players Inc. (Australia), Celebration Arts (California), Culver-Stockton College (Missouri), Ohlone College (California), and Moksh Creations (India). Mr. Loverde is also an accomplished painter and photographer with a number of best-selling works. He works in both traditional (paint and canvas) and electronic media. Mr. Loverde is a former member playwright of the Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble at Los Angeles' Coronet Theater, a former teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District, a member of The Rough Draft Theater Ensemble of Santa Monica, and a member of The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. Mr. Loverde's Web address is www.emmettloverde.com. |
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| Santa Claus played by Joe Greco |
Mr. Greco is a veteran actor from Chicago who has played many stage and screen roles, including appearances in such hit films as The Nutty Professor. He previously worked with Mr. Loverde in Snacking, which can be viewed right now online. | |
| Edward Krieger played by Bill Mendieta |
Mr. Mendieta recently played Caesar Octavius in the Nevada Shakespeare Festival's production of Antony and Cleopatra. He performed the title role in Hamlet for that company the previous season. In Los Angeles he appeared as Amos in the first US revival of Arthur Miller's The Man Who Had All the Luck with the Antaeus Company. He also was seen as the vampire in Tainted Blood at the Road Theatre in North Hollywood as well as numerous projects at the Group Repertory Theatre and Will and Company. Originally from San Francisco, Mr. Mendieta has worked with many theatre companies including the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the San Jose Repertory Theatre, the California Shakespeare Festival, El Teatro Campesino, Thick Description, and the Phoenix Theatre. Other credits include The Garden, The Wicked Do Prosper, Skyline, Reality Check, and Killer Instinct. Mr. Mendieta recently appeared in Mr. Loverde's Till You Get To Baraboo with the Road Theatre Company and is currently directing a full production of Mr. Loverde's Beauty, Brains, and Personality in Los Angeles. |
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| Brian Krieger played by Jonathan Arkin |
Mr. Arkin is a veteran of dozens of professional stage, film, and television productions in the U.S. and abroad. Santa's Letters is his second collaboration with Mr. Loverde, the first being the acclaimed L.A. mounting of Mergers and Acquisitions at Hollywood's Hudson Theatre. Mr. Arkin was born, raised, and trained in New York (his teachers include Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, F. Murray Abraham, and Lynn Redgrave) and his earliest appearance on stage was with his father, Israeli mime Juki Arkin, at the age of 3 1/2. In Israel, Jonathan appeared in many commercials and starred in his own television vehicle as the befuddled space-man "Otus." In the U.S. he toured the country as Cyrano de Bergerac, directed himself as Hamlet, and most recently won praise for his portrayal of Diana (the virgin) in an all-male production of Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well at the Knightsbridge Theatre, of which he is a member. In January 2002 he will play Feste in the Knightsbridge's Twelfth Night. Visit Mr. Arkin's website at www.jonarkin.com. |
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| Maureen
Krieger played by Mary Laina |
A native of Chicago and proud of it, Ms. Laina has appeared in numerous film, television, and stage productions. Some of her roles include Seta in Beast on the Moon, Regan in King Lear, Rosalind Franklin in Portrait of a Scientist, Loretta in Homecoming, Uno in Hair of the Dog, and Snow White in Snow White. On television, Ms. Laina has been seen on "General Hospital" and "Port Charles". She starred in the motion picture Obstructed and danced with Michelle Pfieffer and Treat Williams in The Deep End of the Ocean. Ms. Laina also appeared in Mr. Loverde's Beauty, Brains, and Personality. She has performed stand-up and improvisational comedy and been a talk show and game show hostess. As always, she thanks God for the love and support of her family and friends and for all that He has graciously given her. |
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| Tim Grimm played by Tom Schanley |
Mr. Schanley considers himself very fortunate that, aside from the occasional convenience store robbery, he makes his living solely as an actor. His credits range from TV's "Dynasty" to Courage Under Fire to "Melrose Place". Mr. Schanley also graced the stage in Shakespeare Festival/Los Angeles' recent production of Julius Cesaer. He has appeared in many of Mr. Loverde's stage and screen productions, including Power Plays, Till You Get To Baraboo, Real Power, and Little Secrets. Mr. Schanley can also be seen right now online in Mr. Loverde's film Snacking. |
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| Ingrid Krieger played by Sally Ann Smith |
To come. | |
| Betty Schmall played by Rena Heinrich |
Ms. Heinrich is a member of Los Angeles' East West Players. She is a native of Alaska. | |
| Connie Chappell played by Jillian Crane |
Ms. Crane's recent film appearances include Election with Matthew Broderick. On television, she has been seen in "The Practice". She is also an accomplished singer and playwright, and is a member of Los Angeles' Circle X Theater Company. |
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| Shannon
Lunt played by Ferrell Marshall |
Ms. Marshall has a broad resume of theatrical work in Los Angeles. Among her favorite roles are Sarah in Beau Jest and Maggie in The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Glendale Centre Theatre, Diana in Ring Around the Moon, (Robbie Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress) and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Colony Studio Theatre Playhouse, Kitty in Charlie's Aunt at the West Coast Ensemble, Sorel in Hay Fever at Theatre Palisades and Fay in The Boy Friend at the La Mirada Civic Center. Ms. Marshall is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts West and the Joe Blasco School of Makeup. She has appeared in several of Mr. Loverde's stage productions including Good Business Sense, The Killist, and Beauty, Brains, and Personality. |
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| Courtney
Chappell played by Andrew Green |
Mr. Green is a veteran comedy writer, with stints on the staffs of both "Ellen" and "Suddenly Susan". | |
| The Elf
Masseuse played by Kari Keller |
If Mrs. Keller could be any animal, she would be a flying squirrel. Until that dream materializes, she is actively pursuing her Divine Mission of global domination beginning with West LA, where she resides with her husband and their enlightened mutt, Jethroe. She is a transplant from Florida, where she enjoyed humidity, thunderstorms, interstates (not freeways) and roaches that fly. A theatre graduate from the University of Florida. She has an extensive theatre and television résumé, neither of which are as interesting as her ability to suck the cream out of a twinkie using only a straw, which brings her much adoration and free drinks at watering holes nationwide. When she's not hanging out with the fabulous members of the WomenAct Theater Company, she most likely is performing improv at Second City, auditioning, and learning how to make the perfect roux. She has appeared in several of Mr. Loverde's stage productions including Power Plays. |
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| The Elf
from the Work Shop played by Tommy Griffin |
Mr. Griffin is at the beginning of what looks to a be a long and successful career in movies, music, and television. He is currently attending West L.A. College, focusing his studies on film, music production, and computer science. | |
| The Nice
Lady played by Lisa Otto |
Ms. Otto is a veteran of the music and recording industries. Past posts include a vice presidency at Virgin Records America. She is currently an executive at Warner Brothers Records. She is also an accomplished actress and singer and has appeared in several of Mr. Loverde's stage and screen productions including Uneasy Overture, Till You Get To Baraboo, and The Maginot Line. Santa's Letters is her first foray into film production. |
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| The Nice
Lady's Son played by E. Charles Loverde |
E. Charles is a highly successful inventor of alternatives to static cling (he favors hot glue or, in a pinch, spit to keep one's clothes stuck together). He is a firm believer that "the disco look" is on its way back in, as evidenced by his photo at right. He believes that his heartfelt portrayal of "The Nice Lady's Son" in Santa's Letters is by far the most important moment in the film. |
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Written and Directed by Emmett Loverde
Produced by Lisa Otto
Executive Produced by Emmett Loverde
| Santa Claus | Joe Greco |
| Edward Krieger | Bill Mendieta |
| Brian Krieger | Jonathan Arkin |
| Maureen Krieger | Mary Laina |
| Tim Grimm | Tom Schanley |
| Ingrid Krieger | Sally Ann Smith |
| Betty Schmall | Rena Heinrich |
| Connie Chappell | Jillian Crane |
| Shannon Lunt | Ferrell Marshall |
| Courtney Chappell | Andrew Green |
| The Elf Masseuse | Kari Keller |
| The Elf from the Body Shop | Tommy Griffin |
| Mrs. Claus | Marie Delauter |
| The Nice Lady | Lisa Otto |
| The Nice Lady's Son | E. Charles Loverde |
| Parishoners | Penny Fussell, Lisa Chevalier, Russel Ali, W. Colin Walker, Michael Richards, and Suzanne Marchant |
First Assistant Director
Laurie Castonguay
Titles and Animation by
Alan Estridge
"Chompycat" copyright © by Alan Estridge. All rights reserved.
Costumes by
Suzanne Marchant
Sound, Cinematography, and Editing by
Emmett Loverde
Music by
David Grossman
Erich Izdepski
And others to be announced
Sound/Boom Operators
Tommy Griffin
Steven Turner
Lisa Otto
Laurie Castonguay
Production Assistants
Tommy Griffin
Steven Turner
The Producers gratefully acknowledge and wish to thank the following for their assistance and support: Delis Alejandro, Michael Bertin, Robert Brown, Paul Cummings, Frank Loverde, Brenda Sherry, Jim Tuverson, and the St. Monica Parish Community.
Produced by special arrangement with Screen Actors Guild.
"Santa's Letters" Copyright 2001 by Emmett Loverde. All rights reserved.
The characters, events, locations, and firms depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, or to actual events, locations, or firms, is purely coincidental.
Ownership of this motion picture is protected by copyright and other applicable laws. Any unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition of this motion picture could result in criminal prosecution as well as civil liability.
Four stars (out of five)
I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet tale of a little boy who really wants his family to stay together. I had tears in my eyes when he asked Santa Claus for...well, I'm not going to tell you, but it really touched me. A wonderful new twist on the old legend of St. Nick.
(Above) Mary Laina as Maureen Krieger in Emmett Loverde's Santa's Letters. (Photo copyright 2001 by Emmett Loverde.)
(Above) Joe Greco as Santa Claus in Emmett Loverde's Santa's Letters. (Photo copyright 2001 by Emmett Loverde.)
(Above) Joe Greco as Santa Claus in Emmett Loverde's Santa's Letters. (Photo copyright 2001 by Emmett Loverde. Chompycat copyright by Alan Estridge.)
(Above) Joe Greco as Santa Claus in Emmett Loverde's Santa's Letters. (Photo copyright 2001 by Emmett Loverde.)
