The Christmas Blessing

CANOE JAM! Showbiz discusses the holiday special The Christmas Blessing:

Visits from Brad Pitt aside, not a lot of film production takes place in Edmonton, especially compared to the Hollywood North hotbeds of Toronto and Vancouver.

But if you're going to shoot a TV movie called The Christmas Blessing, what better place to do it than the winter wonderland that is Canada's northernmost major city?

There's just one catch: They filmed The Christmas Blessing in July. And it wasn't even a heavy mosquito summer in the Alberta capital -- otherwise the filmmakers could have painted the little bloodsuckers white and passed them off as snowflakes. "The networks never seem to order Christmas movies at the right time of year," explained producer Craig Anderson of the TV movie's odd production window.

He goes on to discuss a possible third film in the series:

Whether Gayheart makes it to the final credits of The Christmas Blessing or not, there are already plans afoot to do another sequel, based on author VanLiere's recently released third novel in the series, The Christmas Hope.

Producer Anderson said he may even return to Edmonton to shoot it -- but this time, "hopefully in winter!"

The Christmas Blessing also stars Neil Patrick Harris (Starship Troopers, Doogie Howser, M.D.) and Rob Lowe (The West Wing) and is a sequel to the 2002 holiday special The Christmas Shoes. The film airs tonight on CBS.
Photo from the official CBS website of The Christmas Blessing.