Home for the holidays, Adam (Jaxon Keller) longs for the magic of his childhood. Amid the chaos of the annual Foxhall Village Christmas party, he dodges relatives, evades the political turmoil, and-surprise!-falls for his childhood friend, Ally (Sarah-Grace Donnelly).
This chaotic and heartfelt comedy serves as the feature film directorial debut for Alex Helmer, and as the film begins to hit the film festival circuit, Nick L’Barrow spoke with Alex, and stars Jaxon Keller and Sarah-Grace Donnelly about working with a large ensemble cast, and how their own families Christmas experiences helped find ways into the characters.
Nick: I think many people can relate to the large family, chaotic Christnas. And I watched through the credits and saw that there were a few “Helmer’s” in the ‘Special Thanks’. Alex, how much did the Helmer Christmas experience influence this story?
Alex Helmer: First of all, thank you for staying through to the end of the credits! For the Helmer’s, Christmas is exactly how it is in the movie! And a lot of what shaped the movie was the big Christmas parties of the past. Those ones that kind of shaped how I view the holiday season.
Nick: And for yourselves, Jaxon and Sarah-Grace – how did your own Christmas experiences inform your characters and how they interact in this world?
Jaxon Keller: It’s definitely not as chaotic as the movie, for sure! We definitely have a good time. We do Christmas Eve traditionally with our close family, and just hang out and eat, wear matching pyjamas, do a little photoshoot at the end of the night. I will say, I didn’t draw a lot from my own experience because mine is a smaller, tight knit group of people compared to A Christmas Party! But, the family aspect of it all definitely helped.
Sarah-Grace Donnelly: Christmas Day and Christmas night are usually a pretty small affair. I’m an only child and it’s just me and my mum, so we usually spend it together. We usually see a movie together! On Boxing Day, I always visit my extended family, which is a group of 15 people, which is very much like A Christmas Party! We play a lot of games and it gets really competitive, so I think some of that chaos definitely helped me experience A Christmas Party firsthand!
Nick: Something that stands out in this film is the conversations between family members and friends who have cultural differences, political differences, and the interactions feel authentic, but are shown through a comedic lens. Alex, what was the process in exploring these characters and themes, but with a lot of levity, with your co-writer, Guy David Knoll?
AH: It was really easy to do that with Guy. He’s really good at finding humorous angles for things that wouldn’t traditionally be seen as funny, right? I think it came naturally from both of us, as people who grew up in Washington D.C., where the movie is set. It’s a city that is diverse, both culturally and idealistically. So, a lot of these characters are based on real people, or at least manifestations that came from real people.
We had people at our premiere in D.C. come up and say how this character reminded them of that person. And that’s the thing right, there are so many characters that the film has these tropes and talking points that just feel human. We’re all human beings on this globe, and I just wanted it to feel like everyone was heard.
Nick: Sarah-Grace, how important is it for you to understand the other characters in a story in order for you to find connections to your own character?
SGD: I’m from the south of America. A lot of my family are very conservative people, and I am not. So, a lot of that tension that Ally is feeling comes from fights that I’ve had many times in my life, right? I don’t think we’ve ever really gotten into it on Christmas, I’ll say that! Everyone’s pretty good at keeping a lid on it for that! But there were times in the script where I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ve been here before!”
Nick: And for you, Jaxon?
JK: I’m from Northern Virginia, which is only 45 minutes away from D.C., so I definitely understood the cultural aspect of the movie. Character wise, I drew a lot from myself. I see a lot of myself in Adam, and in some ways, I don’t see a lot in myself either. And from the things I could relate to, I started to pinpoint things and choices that I wanted to make. But then when it came to the things that were wildly different, that’s where I think the things that were really special about Adam came from, and it was the fusion of the two that allowed me to play around a lot more with the character.
Nick: This is very much an ensemble movie, and there are many unique characters who all have an impact on the overall story. What was the process when writing the film in giving everyone enough substance, but also finding the rhythm of the film?
AH: Great question. There has to be merit to everyone being there, right? You can’t just make a movie with a ton of characters just for the hell of it. In development, when the first couple of drafts were being written, there were characters that didn’t end up in the film because producers were telling me that it’s already overstuffed as it is! Funnily enough, one of those was the Kane family. But, you’ve seen the film, and you know that they are the comedic standouts!
It’s so easy to get overwhelmed, because each of the characters have something to learn. They have a purpose. They have clear wants. And they, hopefully, change by the end of the movie. Or in the case of some characters, they don’t. And that’s the fun part of it all. The movie is about celebrating differences, and loving each other despite their differences. So, we definitely cultivated each character with specific characteristics. And as a first time feature director, having 15 different characters in a scene, you have to trust your actors. And they end up knowing the characters better than me anyway!
Nick: Does having that sort of trust from the director give you freedom as performers?
JK: Yeah, Alex would always say that we’re going to know the characters better than he will. So, if we think they’re going to make a choice here instead of how it’s written, we would run with it. There’s definitely a good sense of freedom, and a big sigh of relief knowing that if I get a line wrong, it’s not the end of the world. But also, if I choose to change something, he’s not going to yell, “Cut”! I really think this movie shows that faith and trust that he had in us.
SGD: It’s a two way street, you know. Because Alex and Guy’s script is really great. The dialogue is so natural and so easy. You don’t have to try really hard to make it happen. And as an actor, knowing my character and the material is good and fleshed out, and trusting what Alex has built, gives you a lot to take and just run with it. He gives me the trust to then take it in my own direction. Plus, it just made making the movie a really great time. All of the actors had such a wonderful chemistry and great relationships that it was just so easy to work off of each other.
Nick: Alex, I want to then follow on from writing the ensemble, to directing the ensemble. There is a great one-shot take where everyone arrives at the party at 7pm sharp, and you manage to move the camera around the space in such a dynamic way, but you also get a chance to see and meet everyone new to the story at that point. Can you talk to the process of blocking and shooting that scene in particular?
AH: Thank you for bringing that scene up! I’ve talked about the dinner scene so many times, but we haven’t actually talked about this scene! Don’t get me wrong, the dinner scene was hard to shoot, but we were cutting back and forth between everyone. The scene where everyone barges in was one shot, and there’s so much chaos in it! We’re introducing like five, six new characters into the movie and we wanted that to be a point of emphasis where the audience knows these are people you’re really going to get to know as the movie goes on.
I’m someone who likes to do long takes, and a lot of tracking shots, and intensive blocking work. It feels like a classical style of camera work where you let your actors lead the camera. It makes the viewer feel more like they’re in this space. We spoke about how the actors can improvise, but for Spencer [Bruttig, director of photography], if he felt like pushing the camera in a certain way or moving it in a certain direction, it kind of lent into the chaos of what’s happening in the movie. And a lot of that camera improv led to catching the smaller moments or reactions of characters in the movie.
Nick: As performers, when you know the camera is capturing so much and is very involved in the scenes, do you think about the relationship you have with the camera?
SGD: Yeah, that’s a great question. When I first started out, I found the camera so distracting, having this giant, black eye staring at you. I used to have dreams about the camera staring at me, always watching me! But as I’ve done more work, I’ve realised that the camera is like another character. Obviously you don’t want to look right down the barrel of the camera, but you realise that the camera is the character of the audience. It’s like performing on stage, you’re performing for the people in front of you. They are the camera. So, I’ve definitely tried to create a good relationship with the camera.
JK: I was trying so hard for the first three days of shooting to not spike the camera! Trying not to look right at it [laughs]. But as shooting went on, and I got more comfortable with the camera, it made me think about so many more aspects of my performance. I was aware of the camera all the time, and like Sarah-Grace said, it became the audience. It’s like this fly on the wall. But it helped to be aware of it because then in some scenes, when you’re really in the moment, it makes it easier to forget it’s there if you need.
Nick: I can’t end this chat without the obvious question – what is everyone’s favourite Christmas movie?
AH: I hate Christmas movies [laughs]. No, I’m joking. It’s A Christmas Story for me. But the one I’ve been watching the most since it came out is The Holdovers. Christmas isn’t a huge part of the movie, but it embodies the value of Christmas very well. The vibes are definitely there.
SGD: Jim Carrey’s The Grinch is my official favourite Christmas movie.I do also think Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is technically a Christmas movie! There’s a whole scene at Christmas! It feels like one in my heart!
JK: Alex actually got me to watch The Holdovers and that has entered my favourites category. The Grinch is also one of mine. And Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is also in the holiday realm.
Thank you so much to Alex, Jaxon, and Sarah-Grace for their time. A Christmas Party is currently on the film festival circuit and will be released soon.
