Actor Joe Towne opened up about his new holiday film, “The Art of Christmas,” which premiered last night on Great American Family, and the digital age.
Towne stars as Jake Hartley opposite Brigitte Kingsley, who served as an executive producer, and writer, and she stars in it as Liv James. “I was so excited to see it. I watched it last night for the first time. We got to do a little Zoom celebration with the cast and crew. We got to wear pajamas, drink hot cocoa, and roast some marshmallows. It was nice to be together in this virtual screening,” he said.
“This is obviously Liv’s story,” he admitted. “Personally, on behalf of my colleague, I want to see Brigitte shine. She is so exceptional as a writer, and producer, and starring in this, which is about having big dreams.”
“My character, Jake, is all about bouncing back from disappointment and heartbreak. He is trying to find love again after having his heart broken,” he said. “I hope the magic of this film carries all year through.”
“It was a dream to work with Brigitte, honestly. She is just an extraordinary human, she wrote a great script and she put everybody at ease and she helped guide us through this whole journey,” he said.
“For me, it was a dream because it felt like I was getting to know a friend over the course of three weeks. We got to do one long conversation that just happened to be filmed. It really was a magical experience for us,” he added.
The synopsis of the movie is as follows: After her latest gallery exhibition literally goes up in flames, struggling artist Liv James (Brigitte Kingsley) accepts a teaching job at a local elementary school to make ends meet.
Towne had great words about working with Emmy winner Darin Brooke and Kelly Kruger. “Darin instantly felt like a best friend, he has that ability. He is a playful and present artist. My scenes with him are some of my favorites,” he said. “Kelly is wonderful too.”
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, Towne said, “It allows us to create our own material at least more and more. My first few projects were digital but some were shot on film.
“Over the last 10 years, I had to create a lot in the digital space. I love the best of both worlds: I love a theatrical experience because it made me fall in love with being an actor. There is such a different experience now that our home experience rivals our theater experience. I love having people over because I still love that live audience experience. They are both good for different reasons,” he explained.
Success
On his definition of the word success, Towne said, “My passion is to make and tell the stories that I am really passionate to tell with the people that I want to make them with. I want to make them in a way that we want to make them. Also, being intentional in life about how we spend our time and with who we spend our time with.”
To learn more about actor Joe Towne, follow him on Instagram.
