That holiday spirit: Albuquerque-based director Daniel Lusko finds light in making 'Jingle Smells' through two strikes

Daniel Lusko has been on sets for the better part of 20 years.

When production started on his latest film in July, the veteran director was in unfamiliar territory. The Writers Guild of America and the SAG-AFTRA strikes were in full swing. There were dozens of productions ready in New Mexico, and it all vanished.

At the time, Lusko’s “Jingle Smells” was the sole feature film in production in the state. The only other production taking place was a commercial.

The film will be released Tuesday on Vudu and also is streaming on rumble.com, where it’s available for rental.

It was able to film in New Mexico because it was ultra-low budget and had a waiver to continue to film during the strike. Despite that distinction, the Keystone Pictures production was able to get a cast featuring John Schneider, Eric Roberts, Ben Davies, Brad Stine, Jim Breuer and Victoria Jackson.

“It ended up being an advantage,” Lusko said. “I’m an independent film director. When I start a project, I usually have to fight for the quality cast and crew. I had people who have worked on ‘The Avengers’ and the hit TV shows that are filmed here. With this film, I had the best of the best and was fortunate to make the best out of a bad situation and get New Mexicans back to work.”

“Jingle Smells” tells the story of war vet Nick Gutman, who is forced to take a job with his dad’s quirky garbage-men buddies.

When tasked to destroy canceled toys before Christmas, Nick takes on the secret identity “Jingle Smells” and becomes a “Robin Hood of the Holidays.”

Bart Scott and Logan Sekulow wrote the script.

Sekulow said when writing a big Christmas classic, the immediate backdrop pictured may not be New Mexico.

“But we found the location to have a unique style that amplified the quirkiness of the characters,” Sekulow said. “When Daniel pitched us on shooting there, it wasn’t a big stretch. Though the town in the movie is fictional, it feels like a perfect fit. The writing has Southern roots, and the visuals have Western vibes.”

Sekulow said doing a film when most productions were shut down was unique.

“We were away from the big studio system, so we could press on,” he continued. “It was great to work with a kind and grateful crew that was as excited and thankful to be working. The production business was clearly booming in New Mexico, and I’m thrilled we were able to step in and provide a bit of relief when it felt like the crew was being forgotten.”

The production moved quickly as it filmed for six days in Albuquerque and one pickup day in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lusko said with the allotted time, it was an enormous task.

“We managed to capture some very memorable performances,” Lusko said.

Racing to complete the project, the production filmed about 15-20 pages a day, which is not typical for a film project.

The production also became a family affair for Lusko. Four of his children worked either on or in the film. His wife, Stacey, is the production designer and producer. It was she who had the biggest task of making sure the film felt the holiday spirit, though it was being filmed in the middle of the state’s record-breaking heat.

She was also tasked with finding 10 police patrol vehicles and an ambulance.

“As we’ve continued to find our way together on projects, and Christmas being Daniel’s absolute favorite, having such a fun script, amazing cast and crew, this project felt like all of those puzzle pieces coming together to create a really memorable film we can look forward to revisiting year after year,” Stacey Lusko said. “Teamwork is everything to me and this project, in addition to a great cast, had a dream team crew. Each person showing up, to give his or her best is what makes production so much fun.”

Lusko and Roberts have worked together on a number of New Mexico-based films in the past.

The crew was entirely local and there were many New Mexico actors in the film.

“Eric came in early on his own dime and held rehearsals for all of the cast,” Lusko said. “He told me he believed in the film and wanted it to be a success.”

That holiday spirit: Albuquerque-based director Daniel Lusko finds light in making 'Jingle Smells' through two strikes