Josh Swickard and His Wife Are Filming the Sequel to Their Hit Movie!
Christmas in July! GENERAL HOSPITAL star Josh Swickard (Chase) and his wife, Lauren, are back at the ranch filming the sequel to their wildly successful Netflix movie, A California Christmas! “There’s nothing more exciting than starting a new project and watching it come to life!” the GH actor wrote on Instagram in late June when they arrived on set to begin filming. “Especially when it’s with your better half.”
A few days later, Lauren gave the couple’s followers an update on her own Instagram page, sharing a selfie of the real-life couple in character as the reel-life pair. “A quick hello from Callie and Joseph,” wrote Mrs. Swickard, who penned both screenplays and is a producer on the movie. “I can’t even begin to tell you all how grateful we are to be making the second California Christmas movie.”
The Swickards filmed the first movie last July — it was actually one of the first projects to go into production post-COVID. When A California Christmas debuted in the early part of December 2020 on the streamer, it was met with huge ratings and even held the top spot on Netflix globally for a while! Because the movie was so popular, Netflix had ordered a sequel before Christmas Day even came around, fast-tracking the development of the film so it would be ready for the streamer’s slate of holiday films this year.
Titled A California Christmas: City Lights, the sequel will follow rancher Callie as she adjusts to Joseph’s big-city lifestyle. Most of the original cast has returned for the second film, and there is one new little person hanging out around the set: the Swickards’ infant daughter, Savannah! Just four months old, little Savannah was conceived while the couple was filming the movie last summer! “It happened during the filming of A California Christmas,” Lauren confessed during a virtual interview about her pregnancy with Access Hollywood.
Now that they are back on the feel-good movie’s set — a beautiful private ranch in Petaluma, California, just north of San Francisco — Lauren is juggling duties as writer, star, producer, and mom. Thankfully, Lauren’s mom has been helping out behind the scenes, taking care of little Savy while her parents are at work.
“Your support means the world to us,” Lauren continued in her Instagram post, adding they’d gotten through a good chunk of the movie since production began last week! “How are we almost halfway through filming?”
Look for A California Christmas: City Lights to debut on Netflix this holiday season and keep checking back at SoapsInDepth.com for more updates on the movie — Can’t wait to see a trailer!
