46 | DECEMBER 1 • 2022

ARTS&LIFE
ON THE COVER

Filming took place in
January 2022 over five
days at the Holly Hotel
— three during a full
shutdown and two days
while the hotel was open
to the public. Holly Hotel
kitchen and waitstaff were
extras in the film along
with local actors. Reisig
even used George and
Chrissy Kutlenios’ names
for the Holly Hotel owners
featured in the script.
“George and Chrissy’s
entire staff was very nice
and easy to work with. The
most amazing part was
the food — they actually
cooked their four-star
meals for my cast and crew
every day. Nobody around
here has ever been on a
film set that serves roast
duck with twice-baked
potatoes and all the sides.
The biggest problem I’ll
have in the future is telling
my crew that we’re not
filming at the Holly Hotel
and that we’ll all have to
go back to eating normal
food,” Reisig laughed.

The remaining two days
of the seven-day shoot
were ambience shots
around Holly and in Royal
Oak at the ImaginATE
restaurant, which serves
as a posh Manhattan
restaurant in the film.
The Holly Hotel, Holly
Police Department, Holly
House Inn, Battle Alley
Coffee and Battle Alley
Arcade Antiques Mall
were all supporters of the
production of Christmas at
the Holly Hotel.
The charming town
kept up its Christmas
decorations for a few extra
weeks in January to add to
the magic backdrop of the
film.
“If you watch a Hallmark
holiday movie, they
spend a lot of time on set
decorating. But for us,
Christmas had already
exploded at the Holly
Hotel. We were able to
walk right in and have
it decorated at the level
of a large budget movie,”
Reising said.

Just six months after
filming wrapped, the Battle
Alley Arcade Antiques Mall
burned to the ground on
June 21, 2022. The adjacent
Holly Hotel had significant
fire damage as well. As
co-producers on the film
with Reisig, George and
Chrissy Kutlenios plan
to use the proceeds from
the movie to help rebuild
their historic landmark and
support their staff retention
fund.

WORLD TRAVELER
“Writing was my first
creative outlet,” says
Reisig, the author of
four published comedic
adventure travel books.
“I started writing long
before I ever thought about
acting, standup comedy,
directing or producing.
“I’m a pretty solitary,
introverted guy who has
learned to be extroverted.
As writers, we possess
a lens where we can
look at the world in a
slightly different way than

CAMP FOREVER FUN

And if Reisig doesn’t already have a
jam-packed schedule, he established
Camp Forever Fun six years ago.
Camp Forever Fun is a weekend
summer camp experience for adults
in Bloomingdale, Michigan, about 2.5
hours from Detroit.
“In my opinion, anything that you
did when you were 14 can still be
fun today, given the right attitude
and group of friends. It’s everything
you loved as a kid — plus craft beer,”
said Reisig, who set out to recreate
his camp experiences growing up at
Camp Algonquin, run out of the Ann
Arbor YMCA.
Reisig’s camp, horseback riding and
wrangling experiences growing up
led to him producing, writing, directing
and acting in his four-part Horse Camp
film series. Horse Camp: A Treasure
Tail just wrapped filming in September
at the Black River Farm and Ranch
in Croswell, Michigan, and should be
released in 2023.
“It’s an epic weekend of fun,” he
adds. “We sleep on bunk beds, eat in
the dining hall and have activity peri-
ods during the day and bonfires and
ghost stories at night. Best of all, we
never have to worry about counselors
telling us to go to bed,” he said.
The next Camp Forever Fun will be
held Aug. 25-27, 2023. $399/person
for the weekend session, ages 21 and
over. Horseback riding, arts and crafts,
swimming, sports, zip line, canoeing,
archery, ropes course, yoga, climbing
walls, bonfires, s’mores and all meals.
www.CampForeverFun.com.

Joel Paul Reisig’s Camp Forever Fun,
a summer camp for adults ages 21+ in
Bloomingdale, Michigan, will be held
Aug. 25-27, 2023. Reisig started the adult
summer camp in 2016.

The premiere of the first Horse Camp movie, produced,
written and directed by Joel Paul Reisig, was held at
the historic Redford Theatre in 2016.

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