Writer-Producer Sean Dwyer ("Holiday Rush"): "We Had to CGI The Spring Flowers Out"

Show Notes

Dennis connects via Zoom with Sean Dwyer, an L.A.-based writer-producer whose Christmas-themed movie Holiday Rush is currently streaming on Netflix. The film is about a successful New York radio personality and father of four who, just a few years after the death of his beloved wife, abruptly loses his job and has to reimagine his whole life. Sean talks about the origins of the story, shooting a holiday movie in the spring, casting Romany Malco from A Million Little Things as the lead...and scoring singer Darlene Love for the role of the grandmother--and getting her to record a new version of her seasonal classic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)." Sean also talks about his previous Netflix film Walk, Ride, Rodeo, about a real-life Utah teenager who resumed competitive rodeo months after a paralyzing spinal cord injury...and he recalls his first job in show business, as a driver for legendary TV producer Norman Lear. He also talks about Half Husband, a short film he shot during COVID about a gay man and a straight woman who decide to get married and build a life together. Other topics include: his daily writing process, staying creative during the pandemic, his dream to make a musical and where Norman Lear's enchanting hats.