Director’s Statement
“No space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunity misused.”
— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
“I never pictured myself adapting A Christmas Carol: to begin with. As I prepared to make this film, however, I came to believe that this timeless look at humanity — at ourselves — is a prism, reflecting so much more than the visceral class-struggle Dickens inhabited. There are deep themes of grief, of loneliness, and of inner-peace that stirs change. Making this film rearranged so much of what I previously understood about the story. Slowly, I found my own touchstones and framed up the core of my mission: to create a beautiful and melancholic examination of human relationships.
Building El and Marley’s world was a deeply intimate process as we made a close friend of the source material, and perhaps more importantly, explored our own personal reflections. As writing began during the Christmas season, we would often share stories about poignant Christmastime experiences from our childhoods and our own lives in real-time; sparkling , swirling, suspended in memory. These fragments and feelings would eventually take shape — into a script. Our conversations became poetic odes to Charles Dickens, and we found new beauty in the symmetry of Scrooge and Marley. We also found heartbreaking honesty, unspoken longing, and a shared understanding that only the closest of best friends can manage. This ethereal empathy became the undercurrent, and eventually the entire theme, of our film.
Throughout this production we also felt the weight of responsibility. We wanted to do this story justice; we wanted to shed light on struggles we’ve personally dealt with: anxiety, depression, and grief. We wanted, as so many artists do, to find romance in this darkness, and to inspire growth and healing similar to what the original Scrooge character experiences. But we wanted to do these things in a whole new way. I believe that we accomplished this and more, though it took monumental effort from each member of our cast and crew. Every shadow, every sound, every movement needed to carry emotion. It was an honor to direct actors that made it a point to find their own pain, longing, and magic in Marley. I sometimes forget, but we made this film with a team of no more than twelve people. Most of those people were volunteers, and the vast majority of the production was executed by only our original three. It was all-consuming in ways both exhilarating and exhausting, and we hope you’ll be able to appreciate the elements that made it real for each of us.
There are so many stories I could tell of strange coincidences and serendipity in our production. Stories of triumph on set: those electric moments, shrouded in chaos, when everyone begins to just sync up. In these moments, fiction is reality, and the the entire crew holds their breath for fear of breaking the spell. I had some repeating thoughts on the set of Marley: ‘This is the storytelling I grew up craving — my entire life. This is belonging. Here, I am understood.’ It has been more than magical creating this film, and we hope that feeling carries through into each and every viewing thereafter, echoing the depth of understanding found between El and Marley themselves.
As you watch, we hope you’ll adopt the same open mind and open heart that Dickens was encouraging with his original story. We hope no matter your connection or how our film has found you, you will find new magic lingering in this adaptation.
Most of all, we hope that you’ll never forget it.”