Akron's charm plays a part in Hallmark holiday movie
“Newport Christmas,” planned as part of the Hallmark Channel’s popular “Countdown to Christmas” programming, just completed its first of three weeks filming in the greater Buffalo area, with multiple days in Akron.
Holiday shoppers in winter coats and hats strolled through Akron’s Russell Park, carrying festive gift bags. Some ambled past Santa, admiring decorations such as 6-foot-tall candy canes. Some stopped for a hot cocoa in a quaint chalet.
The walkway led to the village’s gazebo, which was adorned with Christmas wreaths and lights. A smiling snowman had been inflated so high that it nearly touched the top inside the gazebo. It was a happy scene that said Christmas is right around the corner.
Crews set up in Akron's Russell Park, where small chalets and holiday decor line a path for the Hallmark movie "Newport Christmas." Derek Gee, Buffalo News
It is more accurate to say April is right around the corner, evidenced by the kids on the swings near the gazebo who were wearing shorts on this chilly day.
Movie magic had transformed Russell Park into the set of a Hallmark holiday movie called “Newport Christmas.” Across the street from the park, residents shopped along Main Street, where some businesses such as Grandpa’s Country Store and Dye Insurance were decked out with wreaths and lights for the movie.
“Newport Christmas,” planned as part of the Hallmark Channel’s popular “Countdown to Christmas” programming, just completed its first of three weeks filming in the greater Buffalo area, with multiple days in Akron. It has moved on to Youngstown and will return to Buffalo before filming ends April 4. The production company also is using Buffalo FilmWorks, a Babcock Street film studio.
Producer Andrew Gernhard, owner of Synthetic Cinema, the Connecticut-based production company behind “Newport Christmas,” arrived about two weeks before filming started, and doesn’t hold back when he talks about Buffalo.
Producer Andrew Gernhard, owner of Synthetic Cinema, watches as filming gets underway in Akron. Derek Gee, Buffalo News
“It’s been a pleasant experience all the way around, and this looks great,” he said, gazing around Russell Park. “This is very similar to the era we’re trying to match. But I feel like Buffalo could double for so many different things.”
While Gernhard is on the set for long hours every day – the call for this day was 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. – he makes time to travel throughout Western New York with the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission to scout locations. It keeps his head “spinning” with other ideas, he said.
“You never know – you might see something today that you’re going to use in two years from now, or you might use in a month,” he said.
If that sounds like someone planning on making more movies here, he wasn’t denying it.
The old-fashioned gazebo in Russell Park was decorated for the holidays during filming in Akron for “Newport Christmas.” Derek Gee photos, Buffalo News
“I’m happy to get as much as I can going here,” said Gernhard, whose most recent holiday films include “The Christmas Quest,” “The Finnish Line” and “A Biltmore Christmas” for Hallmark and “The Noel Diary” for Netflix. “I know film production overall has dropped, worldwide, but you know, there’s always going to be something that people want to watch.
“And people love Christmas movies – they can’t get enough of them.”
The shelter at the front of Russell Park was set up as the craft services area for the cast and crew. With Main Street shops across the street, it was easy for John Renna, who was in charge of craft services, to quickly buy items while also supporting local businesses.
A crew member pushes a camera crane past holiday decorations and into position during filming of "Newport Christmas." Derek Gee, Buffalo News
“I’m trying to spend as much money with local businesses as I can,” said Renna, who pointed out locally made items such as Bee Country honey that he purchased at the nearby Market on Main.
Villages such as Akron, with their charming Main Streets and town squares like Russell Park, are on the “bingo card” of requirements for a holiday movie. The people in Akron know that, and said they enjoy their time in the spotlight.
“It’s awesome. It’s exciting,” Akron resident Linda Johnson said.
Debbie Gumkowski added that while the filming is great for Akron, “it’s also a way to highlight the charm of all the local towns.”
They were among the residents mingling around the park’s perimeter close enough to see the action, but still far enough away to be respectful of the filming. Some had also watched the filming of the box-office hit “A Quiet Place Part II” in 2019, and parts of “Marshall” in 2016. That was apparent in conversations around the park.
“Were you here for ‘Quiet Place Part II’?” Johnson asked those around her. (She had been in Florida and is still unhappy that she missed it.)
“I saw them set up the whole town,” Nancy Feldman told her, adding she also saw the filming of the tense, accident-filled scene along Main Street as people tried to flee the alien invasion that opens the film. That’s quite a different setting than the charming horse and carriage they watched two nights earlier in the park for “Newport Christmas.”
“You should have been here then, it was warm,” Johnson said, as a chilly breeze picked up again. “The lights were beautiful.”