How Hallmark Films 'Fake' Winter Magic

How Hallmark Brings Magic To Christmas Movies

When you curl up with a cozy holiday movie, there’s a good chance the snow isn’t real, the ice isn’t cold and the actors are actually sweating under those wool scarves.

That's according to Andrew Gernhard, producer of countless Hallmark Christmas films.

“We have to make Christmas movies year-round,” Gernhard says. “It could be in the middle of summer, and we’ve shot during heat waves in Connecticut.”

From fabric roofs shielding actors during surprise rainstorms to roller skates doubling as ice skates, here’s how winter gets manufactured when Mother Nature refuses to cooperate.

Tricks Of The Trade

In the early days of these Christmas productions, winter was built almost entirely by hand. “We did the full snow blankets and flocking,” Gernhard explains. Crews would roll out thin white cotton across lawns and gardens, then spray “flocking” (a biodegradable white paper product) along sidewalks, roofs, awnings and window ledges to mimic piled or shoveled snow.

Fast forward to today: Filmmakers still use old-school tricks for close-up shots, but the real magic happens later when leaves are digitally turned white, trees are stripped bare and rooftops are dusted with CGI snow. Even condensation from an actor's breath can be added using software in post-production.

“We did 'A Biltmore Christmas' years ago and North Carolina doesn't always get a ton of snow," Gernhard explained. “We tinted the grass, like the orange and browns, and the trees had a little bit of that fall color and gray left but coated in snow. And that in itself is as beautiful to me as the feet and feet of snow.”

Even on a perfect “winter” set, the actors are often sweating through their wardrobe. “They’re not wearing fake clothing,” Gernhard explains. “They’re wearing the full wool clothing, the scarves, the hats.”

To keep them alive and camera-ready, crews rehearse out of costume, then bundle actors only minutes before the cameras roll.

Screens block the blazing sun so a July afternoon looks more like a cloudy December morning.

The Worst Filming Weather

Filmmakers can handle heat. They can handle cold. They can handle blinding sun. “Rain is what kills us. That’s the truth,” Gernhard says.

But sometimes, “bad” weather becomes cinematic gold.

Gernhard recalls filming 'Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,' in which the skies above Buffalo delivered perfect ambiance. “It was like a light rain that almost looked like flurries… We just added some digital flurries with the actual rain and it looks beautiful.”

Ice Skating, Sledding And Other Illusions

Ice skating scenes appear easy, until you realize the ice rink might actually be a parking lot.

“Almost all the time,” Gernhard says when asked if they film without real ice. Instead, actors wear roller skates and editors add insert shots of skates in the booth.

Sledding scenes? Even trickier. They shoot actors in front of a green screen, add wind and fake snow, then drop them into footage of real hills shot in winter.

"Anything can be done," explained Gernard. "If we get 100 bucks, I want the 100 bucks to look like 1,000 bucks. If we get 1,000 bucks, I want it look like 10,000 bucks."

The Fans Who Catch Everything

If any details slip through, even tiny ones, fans will find them.

“Hallmark fans, they are Hawkeyes,” Gernhard says. “They catch everything — the toys, the hot cocoa, the outfits, the hairstyles.”

In the end, weather is both friend and foe. “Weather, when planned correctly and works out in your favor, adds huge production value to any production," Gernhard explained.

And when it doesn’t? Well, that’s what Hollywood magic is for.

Weather.com lead editor Jenn Jordan explores how weather and climate weave through our daily lives, shape our routines and leave lasting impacts on our communities.