Chicago serves as festive setting for new Hulu movie 'Reporting for Christmas'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Reporting for Christmas" is one of the first new holiday movies rolling out for the season.

It's about a Chicago TV journalist, and was filmed in the city, Long Grove and Woodstock.

A producer of the film, Chris Charles, joined ABC7 share how Chicago was the perfect landscape for a Yuletide romance!

The main character, Mary Romero, isn't thrilled with her latest assignment: a toy company's holiday mascot. However, an unexpected story unfolds, and she's part of it.

Chris Charles has been making movies with the team he met at Columbia College.

"We're Chicago guys, we know the town, we love the town, and it's a great place to make movies," Charles said. "With the Illinois film services tax credit, and just a ton of great cast and crew and some iconic locations, why would we want to shoot elsewhere?"

Charles said it is special to use Chicago as a backdrop for their new film.

"To be able to get the holiday decorations, the snow when Mother Nature allows it, and the cold breath on screen, adds a level of authenticity you're not going to have in places like LA and Atlanta," Charles said.

The creators of the movie want to send a special message to those who watch it.

"We've noticed when you tell them it's a Christmas movie their eyes light up," Charles said. "They may tell you, 'I used to watch these with my grandma,' or, 'this is my favorite genre,' or even guys will admit it's their guilty pleasure."

The producers are already working on their next Christmas movie, which will be filmed in the winter.

"The world can be a scary place, life can be tough," Charles said. "These Christmas movies give audiences a level of comfort. They're entirely predictable. Everybody knows they're going to get together in the end, but that's reassuring. So to be able to turn to something that's uplifting, family friendly and has a happy ending, it's nice to be able to provide audiences with that."

The crew once filmed in Chicago in the spring and had to cover the grass with fake snow, and clean up the background noise of cicadas.

"Reporting for Christmas" is now streaming on Hulu.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC7.