Yes, Escalon, there was a Christmas tree.

And people in winter coats.

They arrived in town on Thursday, May 1 for a day of filming, utilizing the city’s Main Street Park and local business Fox + Mane at 1746 Main as the primary backdrops for the day of shooting.

Based locally, Eric Raingruber is a producer, writer and director out of Modesto, with Sprocketless Entertainment. He wrote and is directing the film.

“We are shooting a film, it’s a Christmas romance film and the people we’re working with, their films go on all the different channels, Hallmark, Hulu, GAC,” Raingruber said while setting up a scene in the park late Thursday afternoon. “We don’t know exactly where this will premiere but it’s called ‘Storybook Christmas’ and we’re expecting it to go on TV for this Christmas.”

Robin Bjerke is the production manager and was busy on set all day Thursday as well.

“Our two lead stars are Tom Gipson and Hannah Brantley, the best friend leads are Tom Maden and Simone Leon,” Bjerke said.

Why they chose to do some of the film in Escalon was really a simple decision, Bjerke added.

“The filmmakers have been in the area for a long time, grew up in the area and have done many projects,” she explained. “We’ve shot here before on a series called ‘The Wanderer’, we’ve also done a film in the area called ‘Love is on the Air’ but this is ‘Storybook Christmas’ and it’s an amazing Christmas romance and it’s going to be out for the holidays this year.”

In Escalon just for the day on May 1, they have also filmed in areas including Mi-Wuk Village and Modesto.

“It’s been great so far,” leading man Thomas Gipson said, noting that they’ve been in the area for about two weeks. “I’m loving filming here, the town’s very wonderful, it’s quaint and I love all the little shops and stores and it has been a lot of fun.”

Originally from New Jersey, Gipson now lives in Los Angeles.

He also said “a lot of wonderful actors” have made the experience that much better.

For her part, leading lady Hannah Brantley – from Orlando, Florida – said donning the winter coat and getting into the spirit of Christmas can be a little difficult when you’re filming in 80-plus degree weather at the beginning of May.

“But it makes it easier when you have cute small towns like this and it just kind of paints that picture a little bit more so I love it,” she said. “I love finding small towns like this to be able to kind of make that story come to life.”

“And, ice packs help quite a bit,” Gipson added. “It allows the imagination to imagine winter.”

Brantley said she is excited to see the finished product.

“I think there’s something about, when you’re filming these movies, just the cast and crew that kind of become family. You start out as strangers and then you kind of end up as family and so to see this project that you’ve all worked so hard on together, on TV, the finished product; it’s so … it’s emotional, it’s beautiful to see it though so I’m really excited for that.

Owner of Fox + Mane, Genevieve Jansen, said a corner of her salon was turned in to a bookstore for the film.

“Actually, they just showed up,” Jansen shared of the production company, noting they asked ‘who’s the boss?’ when stepping in to the business.

“I was like, ‘I think it’s me’,” Jansen added with a chuckle, saying they asked if they could set up in the salon for a few scenes.

“It was actually a pretty cool experience to see that,” she admitted. “They came in, set up and it was pretty interesting.”

The crew spent several hours on site, putting up a Christmas tree and filming some scenes inside before adjourning to the park for additional scenes.

“I’m going to assume they’re going to fall in love in this movie,” Jansen said of the lead characters. “He was handsome, she was beautiful … it makes sense to me.”