Local filmmaker Rose Kreider’s latest film, a retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol with a Pacific Northwest twist, is headed to Amazon Prime video and Tubi this December just in time for the 2025 Christmas season.
Kreider entered the world of filmmaking by way of modeling, which she picked up during the pandemic. From her modeling career she transitioned into acting, and from acting eventually made the leap to directing films of her own.
“Modeling is a dog-eat-dog world. I definitely didn’t like the competitive nature. Acting is kind of the same,” said Kreider. “When it comes to directing you make your own schedule, you make your own business structure. You’re kind of at the top meaning if there’s any questions from the cast or crew they come to you for an executive decision. I also don’t trust other people to get the job done, I’d rather just do it myself.”
Kreider added that as a Program Manager at Microsoft stepping into the director’s seat was a natural fit.
Her first film, The Woman, released in 2022 and follows a struggling art student at the University of Washington who, upon learning that he was kidnapped at an early age, embarks on a search for his biological mother.
The film premiered at the Edmonds Community Center in 2022 to a sold-out auditorium.
The Woman released on streaming platforms to relatively favorable views and sits at a 6.5/10 on IMDB. However, after hitting some creative differences with her production company, Kreider decided to kickstart her own production studio, Rose Kreider Productions, shortly after its release.
“After The Woman. I decided I didn’t want to partner with anybody. I wanted to do all of the casting, and hiring, and make all of the executive decisions,” said Kreider.
In addition to writing, directing, editing, distributing, and casting, single handedly Kreider informed the Lynnwood Times her version of A Christmas Carol has a much larger cast than her first film, with a total of 62 actors. With more talent to direct, and more special effects, she said this is her most ambitious project yet.
Starring in the film is Tobias Yuodelis as Scrooge, Jeff Barnaby as Bob Cratchit, and Christopher Kok as Fred. The story is set in the Seattle area with several locations filmed around Snohomish County including Lynnwood and the town of Snohomish. Kreider, originally from Kirkland, said Snohomish County has always had a special place in her heart as her family lives in Snohomish and she grew up visiting.
An example of the story taking a Pacific Northwest spin is making Scrooge a tech billionaire, and the countless references to coffee and popular Seattle locations.
Kreider finished her script on January 3 of this year, which is based on Charles Dickens’ classic public domain tale of Scrooge learning the meaning of Christmas, heavily drawing inspiration from all of the retellings her family and her used to watch each year around the Christmas season.
As a self-proclaimed “huge Christmas fan,” Kreider told the Lynnwood Times her decision to do A Christmas Carol stemmed from both her love of the holiday and being inspired by the A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carey which was released in 2008. Knowing that its source material had entered the public domain she decided to retell the Christmas classic, this time with a Seattle setting and revolving around the Pacific Northwest culture she grew within.
From January through the end of February Kreider and her cinematographer scouted locations around North Seattle, Lynnwood, and Snohomish. Filming took place from March 8 through July 7.
One of the questions Kreider asked auditioning actors was whether they like Christas.
“If they liked Christmas, then they’re in,” Kreider said. “I wanted everyone working on the project to love Christmas as much as I do. For me when I came up with the idea of doing a modern, Seattle version, of A Christmas Carol was because I love Christmas a lot and I wanted it to be a house movie staple every holiday season.”
The film premiered at the Edmonds Community Center on November 3 to a sold-out auditorium and received favorable reviews from audience members. Kreider recommends people who may be interested in watching A Christmas Carol set in a modern setting, featuring local actors, and nods to Pacific Northwest culture to watch her rendition at least once.
Kreider’s A Christmas Carol hits streaming platforms this December although a specific date has yet to be determined.
Kreider is already busy at work on her next two projects, an animated film which will hopefully begin production next March, and another feature film which is already undergoing preproduction.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
