Kristi Murdock on Making A Proper Christmas and Finding Hope in a Holiday Story

Kristi Murdock had spent years starring in TV movies when she returned to Wilmington, North Carolina, and began to wonder why she could not make one there herself. She knew the city’s crews and locations. She had a Christmas story in mind. So she started telling people she was going to make it.

That idea became A Proper Christmas, a film Murdock wrote, produced and stars in as Nora. In our conversation on Suspenders Unbuttoned Media, she described the unexpected path from an extra role on Dawson’s Creek to leading Christmas movies, and then to assembling a team to create one in her hometown.

A Christmas movie rooted in real memories

The British flavor of A Proper Christmas comes from years Murdock spent working at a family-owned British pub in Los Angeles. The women there became a chosen family, and Christmas celebrations introduced her to dishes such as sausage rolls, scotch eggs and sticky toffee pudding. She wanted that warmth, and the tradition of learning family recipes by cooking together, to live in the film.

Murdock also wanted viewers of different ages to recognize themselves on screen. Nora’s British grandmother comes to stay, and the story makes space for family relationships, second chances and the idea that love continues well beyond the age range usually centered in romantic comedies.

“Love doesn’t stop there. It keeps going,” she told us.

Making room for grief and hope

The movie took on deeper personal meaning shortly before production. Murdock shared that her father passed unexpectedly on Christmas Eve. Afterward, she wrote a new scene between Nora and her mother. She wanted to acknowledge that the holidays can be difficult for people who are grieving while still offering them hope.

“You make new memories and you build new traditions,” she said, describing the spirit she hoped the film would convey. The result, she told us, still has humor and romance, but also makes room for pain and the possibility of moving forward.

Writing, producing and acting in the movie required different kinds of trust. Murdock began the script herself because she needed to move quickly, then worked through notes and revisions with her collaborators. Before filming, she handed the production logistics to the team so she could focus on Nora. She also spoke about giving a young singer in the film a chance to have her voice heard, and why a hometown screening matters to Wilmington’s cast and crew.

Another Christmas story on UPtv

Murdock also stars opposite Thomas Maden in The Christmas Treehouse, premiering Thursday, December 17, 2026 at 8 p.m. ET on UPtv. Its childhood friends reunite at Christmas, but filming it felt decidedly unwintry: the cast wore coats and scarves during a California summer shoot, then shed the layers as soon as cameras stopped.

Asked what makes an on-screen connection feel real, Murdock emphasized getting to know scene partners, listening closely and making specific emotional choices. That attention to relationships connects both of her holiday projects and her plans for future stories, including romances that show people finding love later in life.

A Proper Christmas is headed to streaming; its platforms and release date have not yet been announced.

Watch our full interview with Kristi Murdock above or on YouTube for the stories behind A Proper Christmas, The Christmas Treehouse and the leap into creating her own films. [Embed video and add link when published.]