275 | How Holiday Movies Get Made (ft. Screenwriter Maggie Lane & Producer Eric Jarboe)

The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Tv & Film

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we’re celebrating one of our favorite genres: holiday movies! Screenwriter Maggie Lane (HOTEL FOR THE HOLIDAYS) and producer Eric Jarboe (FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS, THE PRINCESS SWITCH) join us to pull back the curtain on how Christmas films are conceived, pitched, developed, budgeted, and shot - sometimes in as little as 13 days. We dig into what networks actually want, how to craft a great rom-com holiday premise, what makes a title irresistible, how to build producible scripts, and why collaboration (and quick rewrites!) are everything. It’s a warm, funny, highly practical episode full of insider intel and festive filmmaking stories. --- Looking for more support on your writing journey? Join Meg and Lorien inside ⁠⁠⁠⁠TSL Workshops⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- use code HOLIDAY25 for 50% off your first month. Episode Links: Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit JHRTS (Junior Hollywood Radio & Television Society) Film Independent AFI Directing Workshop for Women Hotel for the Holidays (on Prime Video) WGA Minimums Schedule Check out the ⁠⁠⁠TSL merch shop⁠⁠⁠ TSL on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠ The Screenwriting Life is produced by ⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Hurwitz⁠⁠⁠ and edited by ⁠⁠⁠Kate Mishkin⁠⁠⁠. Email us at ⁠⁠⁠thescreenwritinglife@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠. --- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Big Tasty is back at McDonald's, but now it's a double.
0:05.1	It's the beefiest Big Tasty of all time ever!
0:09.3	Oh, got a bit intense there. The new Double Big Tasty, now at McDonald's.
0:15.1	Available to the 4th of Jan, 2026, from 11am. Price and participation may vary, subject to availability.
0:24.4	Here. From 11 a.m. Price and participation may vary. Subject to availability. Hey everyone, welcome back to the screenwriting life. I'm Lorraine McKenna, and today we are
0:28.8	celebrating one of our favorite genres, holiday movies. We're joined by two incredible guests who
0:34.2	know this world inside out, screenwriter Maggie Lane and producer Eric Darbo.
0:39.4	Maggie is a screenwriter and producer who began her career in development at the Jim Henson
0:43.9	Company and later at Weta as a creative executive.
0:47.6	She wrote Hotel for the Holidays on Amazon and produced the short film Melita, which
0:51.7	premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.
0:54.6	Her second feature, Nosh, is optioned by Happy Accidents.
0:58.3	She's currently taking out her latest project, a period romantic comedy called Accord,
1:02.7	which was a semi-finalist at the 2025 Austin Film Festival.
1:07.0	Eric is the co-CEO of Happy Accidents, the studio behind 10 films and the upcoming dromedy
1:12.6	Nome starring Asa Butterfield. Before launching the company with partner Holly Hines,
1:17.4	Eric spent a decade at the Motion Picture Corporation of America, MPCA, as chief operating
1:22.6	officer, where he executive produced over 130 films and more than 120 episodes of television.
1:28.8	His producerial highlights include Netflix's first wave of original holiday films,
1:33.3	a Christmas Prince, the Princess Switch franchise, and Lindsay Lohan's Falling for Christmas,
1:38.7	in addition to 10 seasons of When Calls the Heart, which has been the number one series on Basic Cable.
1:43.9	Eric has also overseen major deals with Netflix, Disney, Sony, Paramount, Hallmark, Lifetime, Peacock, and Amazon FreeVee,
	...

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