Rage Whale · Movie Podcast: Interviews, Reviews and Recommendations

127: [Guest 49] Alex & Guy from At The Helm Productions with New Movie 'A Christmas Party'

·1 hr 33 min·5 clips

Alex says making movies is the only thing he wants to do, 'is how I want to live' and 'how I want to die.'

1. Rage Whale talks with Alex Helmer and Guy Knoll about A Christmas Party and how At The Helm Productions made it. 2. Alex Helmer is the writer and director, and Guy Knoll is the co-writer and co-producer who jokes about taking credit. 3. The episode asks how a Christmas house movie with 17 characters was written, cast, shot, and finished on an indie schedule. 4. Guy says he met Alex through high school and later joined his YouTube movie podcast during the pandemic. 5. Alex says he started At The Helm Productions with help from Ty Andre, who gets credited for the name. 6. The hosts discuss how Alex and Guy sat on Zoom between New York and Los Angeles and rewrote dialogue until both laughed. 7. Guy says a line only made the script if it passed the test of getting a guttural laugh out loud. 8. They describe the film as a one-location project shot in a large house in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. 9. Most of the cast lived in the house during the shoot, which Alex says helped the group bond like a summer camp. 10. They mention that the crew used the same house for two parties, including a premiere after-party. 11. Guy talks about a bad audition where a reader pronounced "Armani" as "a mary," and Alex says that kind of mistake stood out immediately. 12. Alex explains that Max, who plays a British character, is half British and can perform both accents convincingly. 13. They single out Jackson, Sarah Grace Donald, and Ronnie as key performers who helped the film's emotional and comic rhythm. 14. Guy says Jackson's performance as a lovable loser holds the movie together. 15. Alex and Guy discuss the awkward table scenes and the moment when a character shouts "we kissed" to force the truth into the open. 16. They also describe the tree shot in Georgetown, where the police were called while they were filming under the Christmas lights. 17. The tone is fast, teasing, and collaborative, with interruptions, delays, and repeated jokes about who wrote what. 18. The format is an interview that keeps turning into a writers-room conversation about casting, blocking, and on-set problem solving. 19. People who like indie filmmaking, Christmas movies, and comedy writing. 20. People who want polished promotion without teasing, banter, or production detail.

As heard by us

A Christmas movie chat where the jokes, the lighting, and the on-set chaos all get a turn.

Rage Whale sits down with Alex and Guy from At The Helm Productions for a lively conversation about A Christmas Party, their friendship, and the way their writing partnership actually works.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a festive movie chat that turns craft gossip into actual entertainment.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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