So they make KY Christmas movies in the spring and summer

It is one of the classic Christmas films of all time. In fact, it might be THE classic Christmas movie of all time. I wonder how many families make “It’s a Wonderful Life” a part of their holiday traditions. I’m sure the number is not small.

When I was growing up, watching the long-running favorite always made me feel cold. It never left me in any doubt that they were walking through real snow in a real winter. And over the past eight decades, it has won over most adults too.

Before the 1946 release It’s a wonderful lifeFilms that require snow scenes would use a crazy mix of materials like gypsum salt, concrete dust, and bleached cornflakes, among others, to achieve the desired effect. Sometimes even chicken feathers were used.

None of this sounds appealing, right?

Making Christmas films in the summer

Wonderful lifeDirector Frank Capra wanted the audience to hear the film’s dialogue spoken in the wintry outdoors, so these loud, crunchy cornflakes were a miss. Instead, he chose a combination of soap flakes, water, sugar and a substance called foamite, which is used in fire extinguishers. It made for a much calmer experience.

With the exciting news that a Christmas movie will be filming in Western Kentucky this month, our minds are turning to how to get what they need for the outdoor atmosphere. Yes, it’s December and it’s cold. But snow? The filmmakers probably won’t be that lucky.

They certainly didn’t do that while filming a vacation movie in North Carolina, but that’s because it was filmed in the summer. Has the action been moved indoors? No. You have done the following:

Boom. Just like that. Christmas in July.

Or April. In 2023, Lifetime completed filming Christmas at the Amish Bakery in Somerset, Kentucky. Take a look at the trailer and you’ll see that Pulaski County had “snow” this spring.

The magic of Hollywood, or in this case, Kentucky Wood.

No snow forecast? No problem.