Confessions of a Christmas Letter Filming Locations
Where was Confessions of a Christmas Letter filmed? All locations, cast, and crew details for the 2024 Hallmark Channel Christmas film starring Angela Kinsey.
Confessions of a Christmas Letter shot entirely in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, over 19 days from August 12 to August 30, 2024. The film premiered on Hallmark Channel on November 17, 2024, as part of the network’s Countdown to Christmas programming block.
Where Was Confessions of a Christmas Letter Filmed?
Vancouver’s Greater Metro Area served as the sole production base. The crew dressed a suburban setting to stand in for a fictional American neighborhood, laying artificial snow over front yards, stringing holiday lights, and adding seasonal decor to storefronts, all while working in temperatures that typically reach the mid-60s Fahrenheit in Greater Vancouver during August.
Production design was handled by Jordan Ninkovich, with set decoration by Maria A. Molano. Jesse D.E. Young served as cinematographer.
Why Hallmark Keeps Returning to British Columbia
Director Heather Hawthorn Doyle, whose earlier Hallmark credits include A Scottish Love Scheme and The Secrets of Bella Vista, returned to British Columbia for this project. The province draws Hallmark productions regularly because of its film tax credit, its large resident crew base, and its range of suburban and rural locations within short driving distance of Vancouver. The Pacific Coast climate also means August shoots avoid the heat of a Southern California summer while giving the art department full control over the winter look on screen.
Executive producers Kim Arnott, Ivan Hayden, and Robyn Snyder backed the production for Two 4 The Money Media, a Canadian independent company.
Cast: Angela Kinsey, Alec Santos, and a Familiar The Office Face
Angela Kinsey (Settie Rose) leads the film. Kinsey spent nine seasons playing Angela Martin on The Office (NBC, 2005 to 2013), and her character here is a family matriarch who has lost her community’s annual Christmas letter-writing contest enough times that she decides to hire a professional novelist to write a winning entry. Brian Baumgartner (Sam), who played Kevin Malone on The Office, appears in a supporting role, giving the film an on-screen reunion from a series that wrapped more than a decade before this production.
Alec Santos plays Juan, the novelist Settie hires. Santos was born in Brazil and works in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Lillian Doucet-Roche plays Lily, Settie’s daughter, whose accidental “engagement” to Juan drives the film’s comedic situation. Doucet-Roche was born in England.
Additional cast members include Fred Ewanuick (Paddy), Jake Foy (Jack Rose), Colleen Wheeler (Sue), Andy Thompson (Hank), Jorge Montesi (Abuelo), Garry Chalk (Charles), Barbara Pollard (Edith), Ashley Ross (Victoria), Jeff Avenue (Bradley). Jordan Ninkovich holds a dual credit, appearing both as an actor playing Piper’s Boyfriend and in the production design role.
Script, Studio, and Broadcast Details
The screenplay is credited to Jennifer L. Smith and Kate Smith. Letterboxd attributes the script to “Jennifer E. Smith” rather than “Jennifer L. Smith”; the Rotten Tomatoes cast-and-crew page uses the “L” initial, and the correct middle initial could not be confirmed from official production materials. Two 4 The Money Media produced the film, which runs 85 minutes per Letterboxd; Rotten Tomatoes lists 90 minutes.
The November 17, 2024 premiere aired on Hallmark Channel in the United States and simultaneously on W Network in Canada. A French-language broadcast followed on TF1 on October 23, 2025. The film is available for streaming in the United States on Hallmark+. Maddy Casale, writing for Decider, noted that the Office reunion element between Kinsey and Baumgartner was not enough to make the film stand out within Hallmark’s holiday lineup.
The Performance of a Perfect Family, Filmed in Disguise
The premise of Confessions of a Christmas Letter depends on a family performing a curated image for neighbors via written communication. Settie Rose wants the neighbors to read a version of her family that has more polish than the real one. The production ran on a parallel arrangement: a Canadian suburb dressed to look like an American community, in August dressed to look like winter, with an art department constructing the convincing surface that the story itself treats as unreliable.
For viewers who followed both performers on The Office, the pairing carries added weight, although official production material does not make that connection explicit.
