Adaptation Gunn's
literary agent was approached in 2011 by a production company looking for Christmas novels to adapt into screenplays. Her agent suggested the novel
"Finding Father Christmas". On pitching the story to
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries in 2012, it was rejected due its lack of romance. Gunn's agent then made the suggestion to combine the first novel with parts of its sequel,
"Engaging Father Christmas", as the latter novel featured a romantic plot for its main character. The two novels were reworked into a combined treatment, which was again pitched to the channel in 2013. It was again rejected, but with the possibility of reconsideration if further adaptations were made, in particular relocating the novel from England to North America. Following further adaptations, Hallmark approved the treatment of the novels in 2015, leading to the development of the screenplay. Gunn went on to publish an
ebook (
"How My Book Became A Movie:A True Story") in 2016, detailing her experiences of the process, from the origins of the novel to the film's production.
Sequels Following the success of the first film, On May 9, 2017, Hallmark announced eight new Christmas movies, including a sequel to
Finding Father Christmas entitled
Engaging Father Christmas.
Finding Father Christmas director Terry Ingram was originally approached to direct the sequel, but was unavailable, leading to director
David Winning taking the helm. A third film in the series was confirmed by director David Winning and actor Jim Thorburn with some scenes shot in the city of
Abbotsford, British Columbia. The second film began production in June 2017 and the final installment was filmed in March 2018. ==Films==