Lifetime Christmas Unwrapped
Lifetime premieres its second original Christmas movie tonight, October 24, with Christmas Unwrapped. This wonderful holiday film will certainly get you into the Christmas spirit, but where was it filmed?
Christmas Unwrapped premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. It stars Amber Stevens West, Marco Grazzini, Cheryl Ladd, and was executive produced by Tiffany Haddish.
The official synopsis for the movie reads:
‘Christmas Unwrapped’ Was Filmed in Canada
Like many holiday movies this year, Christmas Unwrapped was filmed in Canada, specifically in the Ottawa region, IMDb shared.
Ottawa Film Office revealed that the movie was originally shot under the title Charity Christmas.
The movie filmed earlier this year.
One of the scenes used for filming was the Rink of Dreams outside of Ottawa City Hall.
The Rink of Dreams outside #Ottawa City Hall will be filmed for most of Monday, so it will be closed to the public.
The rink will be a stand-in for a New York City location.
Here’s another behind-the-scenes photo from filming.
It was genuinely cold and snowy when Christmas Unwrapped was filmed in Canada.
It Was Originally Called ‘A Charity Christmas’
It originally was called Christmas Charity (sometimes referred to as A Charity Christmas) when it filmed in January.
Interestingly, Mel Gibson was filming a Santa movie called Fat Man in Ottawa around the same time, and Smyth Casting helped with casting that one too.
Director Bosede Williams, who also helmed last season’s MERRY LIDDLE CHRISTMAS, shared this selfie from the set of CHARITY CHRISTMAS, rumored to be for Lifetime, which stars Amber Stevens West and Marco Grazzini and is filming now in and around Ottawa.
Smyth Casting had a lot of posts in January looking for background helping with Charity Christmas. In late January, they were looking for older skaters, ages 60+. They also sought people for street scenes, a bagel cart vendor, a delivery person, a DJ, and “elegant venue goers.”
The cast for the movie includes:
- Amber Stevens West (Charity Jones)
- Marco Grazzini (Erik Gallagher)
- Cherion Drakes (Tisha Davis)
- Anthony Sherwood (Martin Jones)
- Cheryl Ladd (Janet Cohen)
- Morgan Kelly (Aaron Coleman)
- Izzy Perry (Caitlin)
- Jodi Larratt (Vivian)
- Roger Dunn (Frank Murray)
- Stacey Coke (Mayor Flynn)
- David Frisch (Tom)
- John Koensgen (Frank Murray)
- Jake Raymond (Bryan)
- Ceyon Crossfield (Young Boy)
- Eric Craig (Mike Hollis)
Christmas Unwrapped was filmed in Canada before much was known about COVID-19 and long before productions were shutdown for the pandemic.
Lifetime’s Christmas Schedule
Lifetime has numerous movies on the schedule this season, including:
Oct. 23, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas on Ice: Abigail Klein, Ryan Cooper, Caroline Portu, Will Lyman, and Meara Mahoney Gross
Oct. 24, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas Unwrapped: Amber Stevens West, Marco Grazzini, Cheryl Ladd, and executive producer Tiffany Haddish
Oct. 25, 8 p.m. ET – Forever Christmas: Chelsea Hobbs, Christopher Russell, Matthew Anderson, and Jill Morrison
Oct. 30, 8 p.m. ET – A Crafty Christmas Romance: Nicola Posener and Bradford B. Johnson
Oct. 31, 8p.m. ET – Candy Cane Christmas: Beverley Mitchell, Mark Ghanimé, Trudy Weiss, and Benedicte Belizaire
Nov. 1, 8 p.m. ET – The Christmas Aunt: Keshia Knight Pulliam and Jarod Joseph
Nov. 6, 8 p.m. ET – The Christmas Yule Blog: Sara Canning and Zak Santiago
Nov. 7, 8 p.m. ET – A Welcome Home Christmas: Jana Kramer, Brandon Quinn, Tim Reid, Charlene Tilton, and Craig Morgan
Nov. 8, 8 p.m. ET – A Very Charming Christmas Town: Natalie Hall, Jon Prescott, Kelley Jakle, Jo Marie Payton, and Tracey E. Bregman
Nov. 13, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas on the Vine: Julianna Guill, Jon Corr, and Meredith Baxter
Nov. 14, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas on Wheels: Tiya Sircar and Michael Xavier
Nov. 15, 8 p.m. ET – The Christmas Edition: Carly Hughes, Rob Mayes, Marie Osmond and Aloma Wright
Nov. 20, 8 p.m. ET – A Taste of Christmas: Anni Krueger, Gilles Marini, Nia Vardalos, Andrew Brodeur, and Emma Myers
Nov. 21, 8 p.m. ET – Feliz NaviDAD: Mario Lopez, AnnaLynne McCord, Paulina Chavez, Mary Carmen Lopez, and director Melissa Joan Hart
Nov. 22, 8 p.m. ET – Homemade Christmas: Michelle Argyris and Travis Nelson
Nov. 27, 8 p.m. ET – Dear Christmas: Melissa Joan Hart, Jason Priestley, Robin Givens, Ed Begley Jr., Faith Prince, and Nicky Whelan, with cameos by Jamie and Doug Hehner and Hilarie Burton and Antwon Tanner
Nov. 28, 8 p.m. ET – Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding: starring Kelly Rowland, Thomas Cadrot, Debbi Morgan, Bresha Webb, Latonya Williams, Jaime M. Callica, Nathan Witte, and Chris Shields
Nov. 29, 8 p.m. ET – People Presents: Once Upon a Main Street: Vanessa Lachey, Ryan McPartlin, Patrick Duffy, and Polly Draper
Nov. 30, 8 p.m. ET – The Christmas Listing: Lexi Giovagnoli, Travis Burns, Greg Evigan, Rachel O’Connell, and Susan Chambers
Dec. 4, 8 p.m. ET – Spotlight on Christmas: Tori Anderson, Victor Zinck, Jr., Janet Kidder, Lia Franklin, and Andrew McIlroy
Dec. 5, 8 p.m. ET – Let’s Meet Again on Christmas Eve: Kyla Pratt and Brooks Darnell
Dec. 6, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas Ever After: Ali Stroker and Daniel di Tomasso
Dec. 7, 8 p.m. ET – The Santa Squad: Rebecca Dalton and Aaron Ashmore
Dec. 11, 8 p.m. ET – Inn Love by Christmas: Jonna Walsh, Jesse Hutch, Art Hindle, and Jayne Eastwood
Dec. 12, 8 p.m. ET – The Christmas Setup: Ben Lewis, Blake Lee, Fran Drescher, Ellen Wong, and Chad Connell
Dec. 13, 8 p.m. ET – A Sugar & Spice Holiday: Jacky Lai, Tony Giroux, and Tzi Ma
Dec. 14, 8 p.m. ET – Lonestar Christmas: Stephanie Bennett, Marco Grazzini, Brent Strait, Colleen Wheeler, Lina Renna, Emma Oliver, and BJ Harrison
Dec. 18, 8 p.m. ET – Christmas on the Menu: Kim Shaw, Clayton James, Cynthia Gibb, Jesse Kove, Michael Steger, and Shanica Knowles
Dec. 19, 8 p.m. ET – A Christmas Exchange: Laura Vandervoort and Rainbow Sun Francks
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