Christmas Cookies

• Tree Lighting Ceremony
• Ice Skaters
• Horse-Drawn Carriage
• Santa Sighting
• Snows
• Snowman
• Sledding
• Drink from Empty Coffee Cups
• Gingerbread Houses
• Ex goes above and beyond but no joy
• Almost kiss about 25 minutes before end of movie but get interrupted
• Shooting Star

Director

• James Head

Producers

• Greg Malcolm
• Vicki Sotheran

Cast

• Wes Brown
• Kurt Evans
• Chris Gauthier
• Benita Ha
• Nicole Hombrebueno
• Barclay Hope
• Marci T. House
• Kehli O'Byrne
• Chelsey Reist
• Tiera Skovbye
• Tom Tasse
• Jim Thorburn
• Jill Wagner

NEWS REPORTERWe're here live for the annual Festival of Christmas Lights in the magical town of Cookie Jar, a town teaming with all things Christmas, as you can see. A town that's the home of the famous Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookie Company. You may remember those wonderful sweet sugary delights from your childhood.

NEWS REPORTERWe're here with some longtime residence. Lighting the tree marks the beginning of something special in cookie jar. BETTY: "Yes it does. The lighting of this tree marks the beginning of our Christmas season." You're all originally from Cookie Jar? HERB: "Born and raised. That's what makes a town! No one ever wants to leave." ED: "It's pretty much the best place on earth. Hi Mom!" My parents brought me here every Christmas for years and I know I never wanted to leave. BETTY: "Well that's what this is all about. People spend Christmas with us and then they have memories that last a lifetime." Memories of Aunt Sally's famous Christmas Cookies, and the tree in the center of it all... Gentlemen!

HANNAHI know it's a little cliche, the whole horse drawn carriage through snowy Central Park, but whatever! I mean look at this place it's incredible! What's wrong? "No big deal wish I'd brought my gloves." Oh come on Gavin put your hands in the blanket. There. Problem solved. I know this is not your idea of a romantic night with me. OK? I get it. But it's important to me. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me. I guess I'm just more traditional. Company dinners, schmoozy parties." Stuffy parties. You like stuffy parties. You know sometimes it's nice to have a little fun without the work. "Hey speaking of parties. My annual Christmas Eve party is coming up. I'm really hoping that you'll make an appearance." Oh, so I can talk about Christmas when I don't want to talk about Christmas? "Hannah, sweetheart, it's really important to me. Kind of like this carriage ride is to you." Nice try Gavin. "You'll love it. Just you wait."

HANNAH'S SISTER STEPHANIE"Okay, so, you had him on the carriage, and it was nice, it was romantic. Maybe he'll pop the question soon." What? What are you even saying? I'm so not ready for marriage. Not at all. "He's a catch. You need to lock up the good ones before it's too late." I'm going to listen to relationship advice from my little sister who is, by the way, currently single?

MILES THURBER"You ready for the big leagues, Miss Harper?" Uh, yes, absolutely. "I hope so. Because National Foods is buying Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookie Company and it's a very important deal to us. It's gonna open up a whole new market. So my question to you is can you seal the deal?" Absolutely, Sir yes! Yes I can seal the deal!

MR. THURBER"I do not want you to be distracted by the season." Oh, Sir, I'm not a fan of Christmas don't worry. "Good. So we get Mr. Carter's signature and we can start working out some of the details like moving the operation to Buffalo. Walk with me.

HANNAHUm, Buffalo? "Well, it's really a no-brainer. You know it's a lot easier and cheaper to move things in and out of Buffalo then it is out of some small town that's barely on the map... and I want to put those cookies in every single grocery store in America, and all year round." Uh, no disrespect, Sir but, well, isn't part of the charm and appeal of Aunt Sally's is that it's a small company and you can only find the cookies in select stores and only at Christmas? Right? "That's right Miss Harper. You know deals like these they make or break a career." Make or break? "Forget I said anything. Just go to Cookie Jar and make the deal. When you come back we'll talk about your future with National Foods."

HANNAHOkay, Sir, thank you so much. "I'm gonna tell you something nobody ever told me. You need to have passion. That's the secret. Passion. Find the passion, Miss Harper.

HANNAHAhh, there you are Ed. "Miss Hannah Harper? I'm your Taxi." Uh, you're late because my train was on time. "Oh yeah, sorry. A lot of traffic this time of year." Cookie Jar traffic?

JAKE"You know, it's a really nice drive up there. I'd hate for you to miss it. You need to finish up the call?" It's my office, and they like their regular updates, so. "Oh that makes sense."

HANNAHCan you just turn down that music a little bit? "Do you not like Christmas music?" It's not my favorite. "First time here?" No, I came here as a girl, did the whole Christmas cookie thing. "Good thing you're here, Aunt Sally's may not exist next year." Oh? "Rumor is some big corporation is coming in to buy the factory." Hmm, really?

JAKE"Hope you enjoy your stay, it was nice meeting you." Oh, thanks Ed. "Yeah."

BETTY"Hello!" Hi. "Hi! Oh, Ed usually waves goodbye. He's a cutie though isn't he." Uh, yeah, he's a cutie. "Well why don't you come in? I'll hold the door for you."

BETTY"Ive heard the rumors. About Aunt Sally's." You know you are the second person today that has seemed a little less than excited about those rumors. "Cookie Jar IS Aunt Sally's. That little company means everything to this town. It's our Christmas tradition. Oh, but that's not for you to worry about. Things change. You give me a shout if you need anything." Sure. Thanks, Betty.

JAKE"Hi." Hi! "Do you mind if I join you for a minute?" Yes. No! I, no, I don't mind if you join. Sit down, please. So, busy day driving? "Yeah. Kind of." Have you always lived in Cookie Jar? "Born and raised. I left a few years ago, um, but ever since I've moved back, I don't have any intentions on going anywhere else. You know we don't have a lot of people coming here on business, so are you selling something?" No. No, I'm not selling anything. I actually have a meeting at the cookie factory with a Jake Carter. Do you know him? "I do. Yeah. Everybody knows Jake." And what's he like? "Um, well, he's a bit of a hard case, but you know, a pretty charming guy." Charming? That's so? "I think people think so yeah."

BETTY"Each Christmas Sally would buy a gift for every child in Cookie Jar, and place the wrapped packages under the tree in town Square." That sounds nice. "It really was!"

HANNAHI have a meeting with a Mr. Jake Carter tomorrow and I know you know everything about him so go ahead, spill the beans, tell me everything. "He's a lot like his late aunt. He's kind, trustworthy, understanding, and if you think that uh, Ed is a little cutie, wait till you see Jake."

ED"Morning Miss." Hi! Good morning. "Ed's Taxi. Ed at your service." Thank you. "Listen I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up myself yesterday. I had mechanical issues." Oh, that's okay. "And don't worry we will get you to your meeting in plenty of time at the cookie factory." You know about my meeting? "Oh sure. Everybody knows."

JAKE"You look familiar." I'm glad you think this is funny Mr. Carter because I don't. I don't like being me made fun of. "I wasn't" I find it disrespectful and totally unprofessional. "OK." What I don't even understand is why didn't you tell me that you were... you? "Fair enough. May I explain?" If you think you can, go right ahead. "I'm sorry you're right. Maybe I should have told you I was the one you were here to meet. But for the record, when I offered to pick up the rep from National Foods, you threw me off. I thought I was meeting with Dan Wilcox." Well, Dan no longer works for the company and that is an awful excuse. "Well, once I figured out who you were, I didn't really want to ruin the mood by talking business." What, what, what, what? What? The mood? The mood? Mr. Carter there is no mood... and business is why I'm here. "OK. Okay. I apologize. I was trying to do Ed a favor... and I got to be honest. I'm happy Wilcox left." Is that you being charming? "Mm-hmm."

JAKE"How about we start over. Jake Carter. Nice to meet you." Hannah. Harper. "Hanna Harper. Very nice to meet you, Hanna Harper. Come on, come walk with me.

JAKE"It's not always about money Hannah." I didn't say it was always about money, but you know, the money is not nothing either, and Aunt Sally's isn't exactly rolling in the dough. "Well played."

JAKE"If the factory can stay here, I'll consider your offer." You know I can't do that. "Then I can't do a deal with you."

HANNAHMy boss has authorized me to offer you a deal sweetener. "Says nothing about keeping the company here." I know that. I know, I know. I talked to my boss, but it just doesn't make any sense to keep the factory here. Buffalo is a better, more viable option. "Okay but?" This is a very generous offer. "Hmm. Final offer?" Yeah. Yeah it's a final offer. National Foods is prepared to walk away if you don't accept the deal. Jake, I gotta be honest with you, if I were you, I'd think long and hard about this because you don't have another concrete option...

JAKE"My plan's a long shot, but it's one worth exploring." Sure. "Don't worry, I'm gonna mull over your offer." What? Huh? You're gonna what? What does that even mean mulling, how long does that take? "Your typical mulling lasts about 72 hours." 72 hours? What? That's three days! Jake that puts us into Christmas Day... and I cannot go home until you've signed this paper! "You're right. Speaking of which, Christmas Eve, we have this dance we do every year. I would love if you would come. I think you would have a blast. Can I take that as a yes?" It was an I'll mull it over.

JAKE"You know the truth for me is I thought there was a time that this town was way too small to hold big dreams." Yeah? What were those big dreams? "To make a lot of money... and after I got into the real world and I made that money, I realized that something was missing." What was missing? "The feeling of family. The goodness that I feel when I'm here." Yeah, it's home. "Yeah it's home."

HANNAHJake he's being so stubborn. I mean, why doesn't he understand that this is the best solution? "Well are you sure? That this is the best solution?" Yeah. Yeah, I mean numbers don't lie. "Well that may be true but they don't always tell the whole story either."

HANNAHHow well did you know Aunt Sally? "She was my dearest friend." Yeah? "Yeah. Loyal to a fault and smart as a whip... and when it came to her cookies, she was a perfectionist." Ha! Obviously! "If you wanted to be one of her employees you needed to memorize your recipe right down to the fraction of a teaspoon." What? You had to memorize everything? "Yes, well, everything I was supposed to do." What's that mean? "Well, when I worked for her, I made the icing... and let me tell you I can make the best icing you've ever tasted!" I do not doubt that one bit Betty. "But I have no idea how they bake the cookies, or make the sprinkles, or the fudge, or anything else. Aunt Sally didn't let anybody write the recipe down. Well, because what does anything mean, if you just know it?" Gotta feel it.

BETTYChristmas is what you make it, or bake it.

BETTY"Are you coming to the gingerbread house competition tonight at the community center?" How many traditions do you guys have? "I know we have a lot of them, but it's so much fun. You must come. The best part? We eat the houses after we're finished." "Hey, you know, we are always looking for unbiased judges. In fact in this town, that would be considered a Christmas miracle."

HANNAHI should get in on this next year. I can bake. I'm actually a really good baker. "Next year?" You know what I meant. "Hmm, interesting."

HANNAHCan I ask you something? What made you want to sell the factory? I mean because you seem so dead set against it now. What changed your mind. "Letters." Letters? Two weeks after Aunt Sally died, Herb forwarded me hundreds of these letters to my office in New York. They were written by people from all over the place that would come here and they would spend their Christmases here and they would let her know how many wonderful family traditions and memories they had because of her and because of this place." Oh. Must've been pretty touching to read those. "Yes, it was and now I'm faced with a decision that could affect this entire town and I don't know if I can save this company but if I can't, I'm gonna go down swinging. That's because this town deserves it. Aunt Sally deserves it... and the people that wrote those letters, they deserve it too.

HANNAHUh, look at that. Your ankle's all better. "Yeah winning does that." Well we tied. "For first!"

HANNAHGavin, that's not what you think. That's the guy I'm negotiating with. "Listen, uh, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I think this is right." What's right? "Us. This. Gavin, what are you doing? What are you doing? "Hannah Harper, we were meant to be together. Will you marry me?" Gavin, I...

HANNAHJake! I didn't know he was coming. OK? That was a total surprise. "When's the wedding?" There's not gonna be a wedding. OK? I didn't say yes. "Why not? He seemed like a nice guy." Can you just look at me, please? I know I should've told you. I told him I need a little more time. Jake, I'm sorry. "No it's fine. I understand. It's always just been about the deal." No! No. I mean yeah, at first absolutely it was about the deal. But then I got to know this town and these people and how special they are... and I got to know you... and how special you are.

BETTY"Merry Christmas." Oh, I'm awful! I didn't get you anything. "On the contrary, you gave me your friendship. That's the greatest gift anyone can ever give. Nothing greater than that." You got me my own ornament! "Yep. It's for the tree. You're one of us now." Thanks. Merry Christmas.

JAKE"And? Where is Gavin?" I broke up with him after he proposed to me in front of the whole town. "What?" Yeah. "Ohh, is that like a hug you situation or like a high five situation?" That's a I'm okay situation.

JAKEGood evening, everyone. I'm really happy to see all of you tonight. Tonight's gonna be a little bit different than your past. I know you've all heard the rumors and I'm here to tell you that they are no longer rumors. Aunt Sally's is going to be transferring ownership to National Foods effective January 1st. She loved you all so much. She cared about you and considered you her family, and I really hope that you all know that... and although we may be going our separate ways, I want to let you know I feel the exact way. I really wish I could've done more. "You did the best you could, Jake" "Nobody blames you." I'd like to dedicate this next song to her. Merry Christmas.

STEPHANIE"Look, since we don't have Mom's recipe then maybe we can steal Aunt Sally's right? And some bigger clothes." What did you say? "Mmm, I've accepted my impending obesity?" No. No, no, no no. About Mom's recipe. "Well, there's no recipe." There's no recipe! No one person has the recipe. Kelly, no one person has the recipe! You are a genius! "That's really not genius because if somebody dies, I mean..."

HANNAHMy name is Hannah Harper. I work for National Foods. What comes to mind when I say Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookies? Christmas and cookies. The Aunt Sally way. Okay, well what does that mean? Well to me it means making a delicious product with a taste that you can't find anywhere else. Sir, National Foods might own the name, Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookies, but we don't actually own the cookies. MR. THURBER: "We own everything about the company." No, we don't! We don't own these people.

HANNAHLook, just let me explain to you what I mean. Um, ahem, Betty? Okay so you worked for Aunt Sally's right? BETTY: "That's right" okay and what did you make? BETTY: "I made the icing." You made the icing. Okay, what else did you make? BETTY: "That's all I made." That's all you made. All right... and who makes the icing now? Okay, and who makes the shortbread? And the fudge? I could go on and on, Sir. MR. THURBER: "Uh, sorry, what is your point?" My point Sir, is that no one person or corporation owns these cookies, this town does. Nothing is written down. Those recipes only exist in the minds of each and every one of you... and without each and every one of you, Aunt Sally's just doesn't exist.

HANNAHMr. Thurber, have you ever had one of these cookies? MR. THURBER: "Uh, I have not." You have not? Okay Kelly? Why don't you share one of the cookies right there? Could you please give him one? That's a Santa's Shortbread. That's actually the original recipe. Okay, and how's that taste? MR. THURBER: "Wow!" Yes! And what makes it wow? The thing that makes it wow is that secret ingredient, and that secret ingredient is love, and the reason I say that is because all of these people love what they do, they love this town they love Aunt Sally's. They love every single thing that cookie stands for... and you can go to Buffalo, you can hire somebody to push a button on some machine, okay, but it's not gonna taste like that. If you want the people to bite into an Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookie and think 'Mmm! That's the taste that I remember when I was little' then you're gonna have to hire these people to do it in Cookie Jar... and if there's one thing that this town has taught me, is, it takes that spark, that little bit of love, to make something really special, because it can't be manufactured.

MR THURBER"Passion! I'm glad you found your passion Hannah. You know one thing I've learned over the years is that passion makes things happen. Can you make, this happen?" HANNAH: I knew I can make this happen, Sir. "Jake?" JAKE: "Deal."

HANNAHI'm very happy that this won't be Aunt Sally's last Christmas. "You did it. You really did it. You saved this town." I don't know about that. Sometimes you just have to be a little creative you know? Somebody once told me that. "Yeah? So what's next?" Well, you know, somebody's gotta stay here and make sure that you don't run the company into the ground. "Not exactly what I meant." I was hoping that maybe this would be the first Christmas of many, here, with you." I'd like that. Guess I got that miracle after all." I got mine too.

THOUGHT:The sum of the parts are greater than the whole.
What made the cookie company so good was they had life a long icing expert, and a life long dough expert, and an expert for each other part of the cookies. Buying the recipe won't be the same, it's old world craftsmanship. The skill of the people is where the value is.

THOUGHT:At the end the National Foods boss tears up the contract. Does that mean he's not buying Aunt Sally's Christmas Cookies? Or are they just going to make up a new contract since they're no longer moving the company to Buffalo?

TRIVIA:Unfortunately there is no real town called Cookie Jar