Highlights
The Holly Hotel makes the perfect setting for a Hallmark-style Christmas movie.
The Holly Hotel feels like Christmas so naturally it makes the perfect setting for a Hallmark-style Christmas movie. Producer Joel Reisig and the cast and crew took over the hotel this week filming “Christmas at The Holly Hotel.”
Reisig, who has produced 30 movies, has not been commissioned so it is not an official Hallmark movie, but it has the same type of vibe.
“There are roughly 10 or so different cable stations or streaming services that run Christmas movies. The last figures I heard were that in 2021, 143 new Christmas movies were purchased when you totalled up all those streaming services,’’ Reisig said during a break in shooting on Thursday. “So there is an enormous market for this kind of thing.”
In this one Kathy is a big city girl who returns to her small town of Holly for Christmas to help her parents run the Historic Holly Hotel. There she meets Matthew, a charming young member of the Holly Police Department. At first they aren’t so sure of each other, but soon it is clear they are falling in love. When Kathy’s dream job calls her back to New York City, will she go, or will she decide to stay and make a home in Holly.
Reisig, who lives in Bloomfield Hills, is quite familiar with the Holly Hotel. He performed in their comedy club (in the basement) and has been to dinner there many times.
“I’ve done two other movies that have shot in this hotel, but it’s just been one scene a piece for a couple hours. This is the first one that’s centered on the hotel,’’ Reisig said. “It’s such a beautiful location. It looks to me like Hallmark designed a backlot just for us to use.’’
George and Chrissy Kutlenios, who have owned the Holly Hotel since 1978, were approached in December about the possibility. They met with Reisig and decided since the Christmas decorations were already up, they would leave them and close the restaurant the week of filming.
“Everyone says they come to the Holly Hotel because it feels like Christmas. I always over-decorate, it’s my happy place,’’ Chrissy Kutlenios said. “People come in and it smells like cloves and Christmas. It wouldn’t be Christmas without the Holly Hotel for me personally.’’
She stayed home the first day of filming but got play by play from her kitchen staff who were showing the actors how to cook, which spoons to use, that kind of detail.
The characters in the movie who own the hotel are named George and Chrissie.
Holly Police Chief Jerry Narsh is expected to make a cameo appearance as himself.
“It is a big deal. We posted it on Facebook and I have 100,000 likes since Dec. 23,’’ Kutlenios said.
While it is a big deal, there have been other major events at the Holly Hotel including a dinner visit by George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara in 1992 during a whistle-stop campaign.
“He was president when he came, so that was spectacular,’’ Kutlenios said. Photos on the wall near the entrance capture that event.
The Stanley Cup also has made an appearance at the Holly Hotel when Red Wings coaches brought it in for a surprise visit.
Showcasing the historic hotel in the movie will give it more exposure.
Chrissy Kutlenios happens to be a fan of Hallmark-style movies.
“I watch them so much – it’s my mind thing,’’ Kutlenios said. “It puts my head and heart in a real simple place because you know it’s going to end happy.’’
