‘Everybody’s excited’: Local businesses, extras featured in rom-com being filmed in downtown Libertyville
The producers of familiar feel-good holiday movies shot in picturesque suburbs are incorporating Libertyville into their portfolio for the first time and the locals couldn’t be happier.
For three days this week, several stores along Milwaukee Avenue were decorated for the holidays for “Exes of Christmas Past,” a film about an ambitious hotel manager who returns to her family’s B&B for Christmas to find all three of her former high school boyfriends staying there.
Sidewalk and interior scenes were shot at various locations, and Firkin Alley became a Christmas tree lot.
Some shopkeepers made cameos and community members were used as extras in the independent production written by Jake Jarvi and Eliza Toser, a husband-and-wife team from Gurnee.
The couple frequent downtown Libertyville, and some of the script was written at Cook Park Library, Jarvi told officials, who last week approved the first commercial filming event in town anyone can recall.
“There’s an excitement about town from residents and businesses alike,” said Heather Rowe, community development director. “We’re thrilled they chose to incorporate many businesses into the filming and that they’ll appear by name.”
“Exes of Christmas Past” is the latest installment in a successful formula for filmmakers and co-producers John Bosher, a Mundelein resident, and Chris Charles, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin. They have been business partners since 2005.
They collaborated with Jarvi and Toser on “Haunt Season,” a horror movie released by Dread last October, but they have ramped up the rom-com output in recent years.
The friendly offerings always have an audience but have become particularly soothing during divisive and chaotic times, filmmakers say.
“Christmas on the Ranch,” shot in Long Grove, Mundelein and Hawthorn Woods, debuted last Nov. 1 on Hulu as the third in a trilogy following “Christmas With Felicity” and “Reporting for Christmas.”
“The genre makes it really easy. Everybody knows it and likes it,” Bosher said Monday as shooting continued along Milwaukee Avenue in the village’s traditional downtown.
Rolland’s Jewelers, Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters, Sweet Home Gelato, Firkin, As Above So Below, JC Licht Benjamin Moor Paint & Decor and About Time Bookstore are among the familiar names that may pop up in the 86-minute movie.
“It should be in, I hope,” Karen Sahr, who works at Edie Boutique & Marigold Gift Shop, which serves as a significant backdrop, said of her scene.
The nonspeaking role had her come out of the store, set up a sign on the sidewalk about wreath decorating and exchange a look with an extra before the pair headed inside.
“It’s so cool to get our little town of Libertyville on the map and recognized,” she said. “Everyone is excited.”
After photography wraps Wednesday in Libertyville, the rest of the shoot will be at the Cherry Tree Inn B&B in Woodstock, where Bill Murray’s character in “Groundhog Day” stayed, Charles said.
The plan is to release “Exes of Christmas Past” on a network or streaming platform for the holidays, Charles said.
Jennifer Johnson, executive director of MainStreet Libertyville, a nonprofit that works to preserve the character and promote the downtown, helped connect producers with business owners and find space for the cast and crew.
“We’re hopeful the movie will not only entertain but also encourage more visitors and interest in downtown Libertyville during the holiday season when the movie premieres,” she said.