Naman Shrestha
The Graeme Campbell directorial, Lifetime’s ‘Mistletoe Match,’ is a Christmas romantic comedy film that chronicles the life of a journalist named Olivia Hayes during the holiday season. With the Mistletoe Match event, which is a Secret Santa event for singles, coming up, she decides to participate in the event while being undercover. Surprisingly, she manages to find someone as clueless and skeptical as she is about the program — a charming single dad and widower named Thomas Kade.
Agreeing to pretend-date each other to avoid dealing with other singles throughout the event, Olivia and Thomas start falling for each other as they spend more and more time together. However, with a life-changing promotion on the line, she must decide what’s worth more. The romantic film unfolds in the hustling and bustling New York City during Christmastime, which begs the question in the minds of the viewers — Was ‘Mistletoe Match’ filmed on location?
Mistletoe Match Shooting Locations
‘Mistletoe Match’ was filmed in Ontario and New York State, specifically in Toronto with additional portions being shot in New York City. According to reports, principal photography for the holiday film got underway in early April 2022 and wrapped up after three weeks or so, by the end of the same month. So, allow us to take you through all the specific sites that make an appearance in the Lifetime production!
Toronto, Ontario
The shooting for all the pivotal sequences of ‘Mistletoe Match’ was carried out in the city of Toronto and its surrounding areas. Apart from being the heart and capital of Ontario, Toronto is also considered the soul of the province’s film and television sector as it has an expansive scope of connections, talent, crew, facilities, and suitable locations that make it easy for the filmmakers to make the city stand in for other North American states and cities. For instance, on several occasions, Toronto has doubled and continues to double for New York, Washington, and Chicago, and international cities like Paris, London, and Morocco, as well.
The production team of ‘Mistletoe Match’ also made the most of Toronto’s facilities and features by making it double for NYC and setting up camp in various streets and neighborhoods to shoot important scenes against suitable backdrops. Since the Christmas movie was not shot during the holiday season itself, the filming unit supposedly decorated certain areas of the city to make it seem like Christmas.
New York City, New York
Since ‘Mistletoe Match’ is set in New York City, it only makes sense that the director and his team traveled to the Big Apple for shooting purposes. Apart from some establishing shots of the cityscape, it seems that they even captured a few scenes of the streets to use in different parts of the movie. You are likely to spot some well-known landmarks and buildings in the backdrop, such as the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center, the Bank of America Tower, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.
Mistletoe Match Cast
The Lifetime movie features Elena Juatco in the role of Olivia Hayes while Ryan Bruce portrays her love interest and widower, Thomas Kade. Elena is widely recognized for her role as Dr. Scarlett McWhinnie in ‘Open Heart’ and Cale in ‘Jann,’ but she also stars in ‘Inn Love by Christmas,’ ‘Unlocking Christmas,’ ‘Easter Sunday,’ ‘Blackberry,’ and ‘Finding Mr. Right.’ On the other hand, the multi-talented Ryan is a Saskatchewan native who is also a director and writer. Over the course of his career, he has been featured in several film and TV projects, such as ‘The Mechanics of Love,’ ‘Obsession: Her Final Vengeance,’ ‘The Princess and the Bodyguard,’ and ‘Zoe’s Having a Baby.’
‘Mistletoe Match’ also consists of other talented cast members in supporting roles, namely AnnaMaria Demara as Tanya, Catherine McGregor as Lucille, Tessa Kozma as Erin Kade, Vas Saranga as Alfie, Dianne Aguilar as Mia, Will Bowes as Chris, Sophie Bastelle as Vanessa, and Andrea Davis as Lisa. Moreover, while Chris Hong portrays Marcus, Vivian Peryl Simms plays the role of an Art Class Student in the film.
Read More: Where Was Lifetime’s A Christmas to Treasure Filmed? Who is in the Cast?
