November 22, 2023
BET+/Youtube
'So Fly Christmas,' a holiday movie available to stream on BET+ starting Thursday, was filmed at various locations around South Jersey.
'Tis the season for cheesy holiday rom-coms, and a new one depicts romance at the Jersey Shore.
"So Fly Christmas," which filmed in several South Jersey towns last winter and spring — including Atlantic City, Ocean City, Longport and Ventnor — will be available to stream on BET+ starting Thursday, Nov. 23.
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In the film, Tichina Arnold and Tami Roman star as tight-knit podcasters who swear off love after one of them is left at the altar on Christmas Eve. Their anti-romance vow is complicated when Roman's character develops a crush on a record store owner and tries to keep their flirtation hidden. The cast also includes Robert Christopher Riley, Laurissa Romain, Jackée Harry, Tommy Davidson and Michael Colyar.
Terri J. Vaughn directed the film, which was written by Clarence William IV. Producer Marc Johnson has a special connection with the Jersey Shore, having spent time living in Lavallette and North Cape May. Johnson, who was brought out of retirement by co-producer Pierre Romain to work on the new flick, had a hand in scouting the local filming spots.
"Holiday films, Christmas films can take place very often anywhere," Johnson told the Press of Atlantic City. "This one didn’t have a set location. During the scout in December, everyone, myself included, fell in love with Atlantic City. It was all decorated at that time, and Smithville up the street and Cape May down the street. We decided to shoot in Atlantic City, for Atlantic City, as opposed to a nondescript town."
Arnold's character is left at the altar at Asbury United Methodist Church in Atlantic City. Scenes with the record store owner were shot in Grassroots Music Store on Asbury Avenue in Ocean City. Houses in Ventnor and Longport were used as the main characters' homes.
At Atlantic City's Showboat Resort, scenes were filmed in the Lucky Snake Arcade, Bricker's Burgers and the old House of Blues. During a romantic moment on the boardwalk outside the Showboat, Atlantic City's Mayor Marty Small Sr. makes a cameo.
Shooting also took place in the historic Smithville village in Galloway Township and at Cape May's Christmas tree lighting, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
One draw for filming in the area was the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission's tax incentive program.
“We wanted to shoot in Jersey because Governor (Phil) Murphy and the entire film commission in New Jersey is extremely helpful, they redid the tax credit,” Pierre Romain told the Courier Post.
"So Fly Christmas" is one of 12 original holiday titles being offered for subscribers of BET+, the streaming service operated by Tyler Perry Studios and Paramount Streaming.
“There is a huge appetite for genre storytelling within our community, and we saw a lack of holiday content centered around the Black experience in the marketplace," Marvin Neil, vice president of content programming and strategy at BET+, told Deadline. "We intentionally set out to fill that gap."
Watch the trailer for "So Fly Christmas" below:
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