'Christmas With Felicity,' movie shot in Chicago, Long Grove, streaming now on AMC+

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Christmas With Felicity" is a new movie shot in Chicago that is now streaming on AMC+.

ABC7's Hosea Sanders spoke with director Jack C. Newell about how the place where he grew up plays a starring role in this holiday story of starting over under the mistletoe.

Felicity is a gifted baker from a small town whose new business and engagement both failed. But a trip home for the holidays is about to change all that!

SANDERS: Was this story already set in Chicago or did you transport it here?

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NEWELL: No, it was set, written for Chicago, actually, and then for the "made up" town of Aspen Grove, we shot it in Long Grove, Illinois. The beauty of the town is that it's supposed to be this magical farm, sort of rural but also it feels like a Christmas town, and Long Grove had that, it was amazing.

Newell grew up in Glen Ellyn, went to Glenbard South and Columbia College, and is part of the team at Second City.

SANDERS: Why did you decide to stay here in Chicago to make your career?

NEWELL: The advantage of being in Chicago as opposed to elsewhere is you can tell stories, you can connect with what's unique because it's not so caught up in the "Hollywood" of it all. We can do our own thing here a little bit more while still making films that people want to see and all that. That's what's amazing about being able to be an artist and filmmaker and living in Chicago, that no day is the same, and it always challenges you to show up and try to be completely present and engaged. It's very fortunate, I feel very lucky that's what I get to do with my time.