ASHLAND — The back tables of Bella’s 220 in downtown Ashland had costumes, hair and makeup products littered across them.
A script supervisor watched a small screen at another table, jotting down notes about each take as Alexandra Swarens acted out a scene. Swarens handed a cookie to a customer in the bakery.
It took two tries to shoot the scene, and then producers called for lunch.
Swarens, who hails from Sacramento, California, is the writer, director and lead in “The Holiday Club.” The film is produced by Good Deed Entertainment, a local company in Ashland.
According to Swarens, “The Holiday Club” follows her character, Bailey, through a year in holidays. Bailey develops a relationship with Sam — played by Mak Shealy — and their love story plays out from one Valentine’s Day to the next.
Swarens acted in California from 2007 to 2018, before taking a brief hiatus and deciding to write and direct. Her first directing stint came with “L.A. Web Series,” a love story between two women who start as strangers and develop a relationship.
Swarens continued directing, connecting with Good Deed Entertainment when the production company bought her last rom-com two years ago. She said she enjoyed working with Good Deed, and they reached out again and asked her to write a holiday-themed romantic comedy.
“I asked what holiday they wanted, and they said, ‘Pick,'” Swarens said. “So, I picked all of them.”
The film has shot scenes all over Ashland for the last two weeks, including at Grandpa’s Cheesebarn, Bella’s 220 and Kash Co. Pourhouse. It plans to wrap on April 30, with hopes for the film to be released in December.
Picking projects
For Swarens and Shealy, her co-star, bringing “The Holiday Club” to life has allowed an important opportunity to share a “queer” love story. Swarens said she focuses on queer projects, and not many rom-coms tell those stories.
Shealy, who was raised in Gilbert, South Carolina, said her hometown had less than 1,000 people in it. She moved to New York City to attend New York University for school, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
But she said her “specialty” remains projects that share queer stories in rural places, like her hometown.
“There are queer people everywhere, not just in big cities,” Shealy said. “It’s important to have those authentic stories about queer love in rural places too.”
The Trevor Project, a non-profit focused on suicide prevention and mental health for LGBTQ+ youth, researched their mental health in rural versus urban areas in 2021.
It found that nearly half of the survey respondents in rural areas stated their community was “somewhat or very unaccepting of LGBTQ people.” That’s compared to about 26% of respondents in urban areas who responded similarly.
The survey also found that LGBTQ+ youth in rural areas had “slightly greater odds of experiencing symptoms of depression, considering suicide and attempting suicide compared to their peers in urban and suburban areas.”
Swarens said she’s mostly lived in big cities, so challenges with acceptance aren’t something she sees often.
“It’s not like you’re putting it in people’s faces,” Swarens said. “You’re just living your life.”
Experiencing Ashland
For Shealy and Swarens, shooting “The Holiday Club” has marked their first time in Ashland. They said most people have been kind, and they’ve had some good conversations while in town.
Both pointed to a night out at Bullshooters as a highlight. The cast and crew took over the auxiliary cord and DJ’ed at the bar for a night.
They added they’ve enjoyed exploring the shops downtown, too.
But more than anything, they said they’re looking forward to the project coming together and being distributed.
Phil Garrett, one of the producers of the film who works at Good Deed Entertainment, said the first step to that is putting the film through post-production. For that process, Good Deed works with a Cleveland-based company.
The distribution process could land “The Holiday Club” in a wide variety of places. They could do theatrical screenings, and the film could land on a streaming platform, like Starz or Showtime.
“We work with independent theaters all around Ohio and the country for theatrical releases,” Garrett said. “Of course, we’ll do a screening in Ashland.
“Most movies eventually go on some streaming service, so we hope it will be widely available soon after it releases.”
After distributing the film, Good Deed Entertainment, along with Swarens and Shealy, will be onto the next project.
“Good Deed has made five movies within the last 20 months, and we’re shooting a movie every other month starting this month,” Garrett said.
“We do a big variety of everything — rom-coms, horror movies, thrillers, faith-based films. It’s really exciting to have opportunities like this in Ashland and the State of Ohio.”
According to Garrett, for Good Deed Entertainment, the next film in the docket comes from Kent State alumni, and will be shot in June.
