Christmas in September: Film crew shooting holiday movie in Naperville
Christmas came early to downtown Naperville.
A film crew is in the area to shoot scenes for a holiday movie called “A Private Eye Christmas” that's slated to debut on Dec. 5 on the Ion Television channel. Wednesday's stop was at the Naperville Township facility at 139 Water Street, where idyllic winter scenes were shot in and around the building along the DuPage River.
Naperville Township Supervisor Eddie Bedford typically can be found in his office during the week. But he gladly surrendered it for the day so it could be used as a makeup studio.
When Bedford briefly visited his office on Wednesday, he enjoyed a pleasant conversation with actress Michelle Borth, one of the leads in the movie who is known for her role on “Hawaii Five-O.” Bedford said actors Jarrid Masse and Rachel Cerda were on the set as well. Online sources indicate Vivica A. Fox also is starring in the movie.
“(The producers) came out last week and saw the building and the bridge, and they liked it,” Bedford said. “I don't know how Hollywood works or anything, but we were able to pull it all together.”
Bedford said he had to remain quiet about the filming until the paperwork was signed on Tuesday. But by early Wednesday morning, the crew transformed the area into the fictional small town of Glen Oak. They created fake snow and requested a snowplow for background scenery. They even brought in a fake Glen Oak Police Department squad car.
Bedford said he declined a request to remove the plexiglass in the lobby that's part of the township's COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Without knowing how or when the plexiglass would be replaced, he couldn't agree to its removal.
Other than that minor issue, Bedford said the experience went smoothly and the building remained open to the public by appointment only. After a long day, the crew was scheduled to finish filming at about 8 p.m. Wednesday.
“It's been kind of fun watching this,” Bedford said. “They get here and, all of a sudden, there's equipment everywhere. But they've been really great to work with.”