Skye Townsend and B.J. Britt Say ‘Christmas Serenade’ Explores Journey of Finding Magic in Hard Times

OWN for the Holidays has a new holiday film all about rediscovering the magic of Christmas despite the ebbs and flows of life. Christmas Serenade follows Jeremiah (B.J. Britt), an uninspired musician who finds himself back home during Christmas time. While there, he’s assigned as the interim music director of the annual Christmas jubilee that his ex-girlfriend, Willow (Skye Townsend) leads. As past regrets and resentments are unearthed, both Jeremiah and Willow uncover their love never died. Both are simultaneously grappling with meeting the expectations of their overprotective fathers. Can the magic of holiday unite the longtime loves once and for all? Or will their musical ambitions get in the way?

In their interview with PopCulture, Townsend explained that what makes the film special is the happy ending isn’t easily earned as in most holiday films. “I feel like all of the characters are going through something, but some smile and do it,” she said. “Some are charismatic, some are kind of a little bit more bitter. And eventually everybody I think has conversations throughout the film where we realize, ‘Oh, we’re all hurting. We just hurt differently.’”

“And so how do we get to that happy Christmas instead of acting like the whole year’s been perfect? It’s like, ‘Okay, now we want to get to a place of joy, but we know we have to do some digging to get there.’ So that was what was special to me is that we didn’t get the happy ending easily, and I appreciated that,” Townsend said.

One of the best parts of filming for both Britt and Townsend was the musical element. Britt grew up as a preacher’s kid and a member of the church choir, while Townsend is a singer first, with acting coming later. When asked whether Christian music and secular music have a place together, they share interesting perspectives. Both could relate to the overbearing parents’ storyline in the film, which explores whether secular music and gospel music have a place together and how they conflict.

“It was interesting to how growing up and coming full circle to this and being able to experience this and see this because I had already seen this,” Britt explains. “I am looking forward to watching with my parents, especially my mom, she’s a minister, so it’s going to be nice to see her reaction to this one.”

Christmas Serenade premieres on Saturday, Dec. 1 on OWN at 8 PM EST. The film is among a host of others to debut on the network this holiday season. Watch the full interview on YouTube.