For Lauren Swickard, she had a very good Christmas.

Despite an odd year for the entertainment industry, A California Christmas debut on Netflix in the number one position earlier this month. To Swickard, it was a surprise for her but a testament to an audience craving feel-good holiday cheers while staying locked up at home.

Swickard wrote and stars as Callie Anderson, a woman who is doing everything to save her country lifestyle and dairy farm in the heart of wine country. She stars alongside Josh Swickard (her offscreen husband in real life), Ali Afshar, and David Del Rio.

Here’s the official synopsis of the romantic film:

In this feel-good Christmastime romance, Callie Anderson lives in a small-town life in the middle of Petaluma, Calif., running her family’s ranch. Left in the wake of both her father’s and fiancé’s death due to a tragic car accident, Callie has become the sole caretaker for her mom, sister, and all the animals on the Ranch. When the bank comes knocking for the reimbursement of late payments left by her father, Callie and her family set out to find some extra help around the ranch in exchange for free housing. When playboy Joseph Van Aston (Josh Swickard) is summoned by his mother to purchase Callie’s ranch property before Christmas Day with plans to turn it into another shipping facility, Joseph begrudgingly agrees. An extremely hung-over Joseph hops in his Rolls Royce Phantom accompanied by his driver, Leo Silva, to make the journey down to Petaluma, Calif. for the very first time. When Joseph arrives at the ranch, he soon finds that he and Callie have a lot in common. Hiding his true identity by impersonating the newly hired ranch hand, Mannie, the two begin a sweet and seemingly deep-rooted romance. Callie soon finds out all that is gold does not glitter when she discovers who Joseph really is—a member of the Van Aston family trying to pull the ranch out from under her. Will Joseph’s newfound love for Callie change his mind and push him to save her ranch?

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LRM Online’s Gig Patta chatted with actress and writer Lauren Swickard on this romantic movie. We talked about how the movie was conceived during the pandemic by successfully proceeding with the production with caution. Also, she remarked on how her husband played the perfect onscreen romantic partner for a movie.

Lauren Swickard is an actress, writer, and producer who sold multiple original screenplays. In her early years, her artistic talents came from musical theater and pre-professional ballet. She studied at the prestigious School of American Ballet and performed on stage with the Cincinnati Ballet Company. Her acting credits include Shelter, Netflix’s Dear White People, and Roped. Currently, she is writing and producing an episodic series Casa Grande on track for distribution next year.

A California Christmas is currently streaming on Netflix today.

Watch the exclusive interview with Lauren Swickard below. Let us know what you think.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, Netflix